Career Earnings: $1.83 Billion
Age:76
DOB: 1947
Birthplace: Victoria, Australia
Paul Alexander Little is a prominent Aussie businessman and generous philanthropist who is best known for being the managing director of the Australasian integrated logistics company, Toll Holdings. A position he held for 26 years before retiring.
Over the course of a notable business career, Little has won several awards including taking out the first ever Trans-Tasman Business Leader Award back in 2005. He was also awarded the Order of Australia Medal and has accumulated a tidy net worth of over $1.83 billion. Here is his story.
Career Summary
After graduating from RMIT University, Little has spent nearly his entire career in the transport industry.
He began as an employee at Mayne Nickless and gradually worked his way up to become the national operations manager of the Seapak Transport Services division. Later, he worked as a consultant at Peko-Wallsend, where he assessed the viability of acquiring the Toll business and then led the takeover.
This acquisition helped establish Toll as a major Australian transport services provider. Little also presided over Toll’s significant investments in wine, rail freight, cargo shipping and technology.
Toll Holdings
In 1985, Paul Little led a buyout management team that bought Toll Holdings along with businessmen Peter Rowsthorn, Mark Rowsthorn (Peter’s son), and Lyall McLachlan. The company was listed eight years later on the Australian Securities Exchange.
With his supporting team, Little took Toll Holdings – which was initially an 18-truck operation worth $1.5 million – and turned it into a $3.8 billion global organisation with operations in 50 countries and employing 45,000 individuals.
Little’s involvement in Toll Holdings made him one of the wealthiest individuals in Australia. He also acquired several businesses between 1989 and 2000, expanding his business acumen. He took a couple of companies each year until when in 1997, Toll Holdings paid A$145 million for a whopping eight logistics and TNT transport businesses. Later, in 2000, Toll Holdings paid A$120 million for rival Finemores.
Little Projects
After relinquishing his duties from Toll in 2011, Little established a company called Little Projects.
Specialising in major residential and commercial property development projects, the business is notable for its ‘one-stop-shop’ philosophy, which enables clients to deal with a single entity for all their real estate-related requirements. Namely buying, selling and comprehensive property management.
To achieve this, Little has acquired several vertical businesses, including a trio of LJ Hooker real estate franchises. He also oversees a significant portfolio of projects currently in progress in Melbourne, with an estimated total value of over A$1 billion.
Other Business Ventures
In addition to Little Projects, Little also owns Little Aviation, a charter aviation business that employs three people and owns a Gulfstream G650ER jet worth approximately A$65 million.
Awards and honours
Little has received numerous awards over the course of his career including the Zurich/CA Business Leader Award Winner in 2002 and the Trans-Tasman Business Leader Award Winner in 2005, of which he was the inaugural winner.
In addition to these awards. RMIT University also bestowed him a Doctor of Business honoris causa in 2008. Two years later, he received an AO medal (Order of Australia) for his service to the development of the logistics and transport industries.
Little is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Professional Sports Management
Little has been involved in Australian professional sports for many years, predominantly in motorsports. He sponsored both Anthony Tratt’s Porsche and John Sidney Racing’s team. In 1998, Tratt’s team, under the name of Paul Little Racing, switched to V8 Supercars. However, this venture didn’t last long as the team folded in 2005 after just eight seasons of racing. Little himself also raced competitively, but his fellow board members at Toll Holdings discouraged him due to the danger involved.
On 29 July 2013, Little was appointed as the chairman of the Essendon Football Club in the AFL, taking over from David Evans. He held the role for just under two and a half years, during a turbulent and controversial period in the club’s history, as it was accused of running an illegal supplements program during David Evans’ tenure. On 14 December 2015, just before the guilty verdict was passed down in the supplements investigation, Little resigned, with Lindsay Tanner taking over as his replacement.
Personal Life
Little is currently married to his second wife, Jane Hansen, who used to work as an investment banker. In 2002, the pair bought the Toorak mansion Coonac for almost A$15 million, which was a record price at that time in Melbourne. Little’s first wife, Shirley, passed away due to cancer in 1992.
Little and Hansen are involved in various philanthropic activities and their interests are focused on education, theatre and addiction rehabilitation. In 2015, they established The Hansen Trust with a generous donation of A$10 million from the Hansen Little Foundation to the University of Melbourne to support the teaching of history studies. In 2018, the Hansen Little Foundation gifted an additional A$30 million to the university.