Anthony Pratt

A factory of Visa in USA.

Ms. Phoenix

Anthony was once considered a spoiled, bizarre child, but he stepped out of his father's shadow. He made the family company become the most successful name in the recycling and packaging industry. The Pratt family is also famous for its charitable foundation, which is Australia's largest source of funding.Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, or Warrren Buffett and Bill Gates, all claim to give the vast majority of their vast wealth to philanthropic projects. And Charles Francis Feeney - "Charity Jame Bond", when asked why he gave away all US $ 8 billion in assets, he gently said: "Because the cloth covering the dead has no bag!"For many millionaires or billionaires, life is not merely enriching oneself but also being responsible to society and the community. Here, we would like to introduce the series of Charity Heroes. They are billionaires who have given away huge fortune with the mission to bring a better life to the world.Here's the story of a "recycling billionaire," who runs Visy Industries, the world's largest recycling packaging company, and also contributes positively to philanthropy.Visy Industries, also known as Pratt Industries in the USA. It is the world's largest privately owned packaging and paper manufacturer. The company employs more than 9,000 employees in Australia and the United States, the total revenue exceeded $ 5 billion. Visy was founded in 1948 in Melbourne (Australia) by Leon Pratt.After his death in 1969, his son Richard Pratt took over the company. During Richard's time, during the 1970s, Visy set up new factories in New South Wales and Queensland. By the end of the decade, they produce more than 100,000 tons of boxes a year. In the early '80s, Visy continued to emerge and lead the recycling movement in Australia when building 100% recycled paper mills, for the first time at Warwick Farm, Sydney.By 1990, Visy accounted for 40% of the national market share, employing more than 2,000 employees. In 1988, Anthony Pratt, Richard's son joined the company and held the position of Vice President. Three years later, he moved to the United States, carrying on his mission to expand operations in this fertile market.Richard Pratt is the leader and gradually led Visy to become Australia's leading company. However, that also put his son Anthony under considerable pressure.Before coming to America, Anthony had a reputation in the country but with an arrogant and distant image. His somewhat comical humor made observers even consider him a spoiled child and skeptical about Visy's future on the other side of the hemisphere.Since the 1980s, Richard has brought the American dream forward and bought the Macon factory. This is also an opportunity for Anthony to step out of the shadow of his father, asserting his strength.However, after World War II, the Macon factory was operating with outdated technology, inefficient and suffered constant losses. Meanwhile, Anthony noticed a gap in the market.Everyone is making paper from trees. Why is nobody recycling things from landfills, which Visy is doing in Australia? He soon shut down the Macon factory and focused on recycling the waste generated by competitors.Instead of buying and taking over old factories, he focused on building his own packaging factories. In 1995, a US $ 250 million paper recycling plant was built on Staten Island.That same year, backed by former President George Bush, another $ 130 million factory was opened in Atlanta. At the same time, Anthony has established good relationships with many of the leading names in business, politics and entertainment."Accept the fact that we are not in the most sophisticated industry. We make boxes primarily. So it all depends on the relationships and closeness to your customers. The top 20 customers are very important. The biggest growth in the future will come from existing customers, "Anthony shared.Going in a new direction, the technology of Pratt Industries (the name of Visy Industries in the US) has become one of the most advanced and effective technologies in the industry. The company uses only a quarter of the labor force compared to competitors.By taking paper waste such as newspapers, pizza boxes, etc. and turning them into new packaging, Pratt becomes the only major packaging manufacturer using 100% recycled paper. It is estimated that the company has saved about 55,000 trees per day, and is the fastest growing in the packaging industry.In 2017-2018, the company recycled 1.8 million tons of cardboard and paper, along with 186,000 tons of glass, 95,000 tons of plastic and 35,000 tons of metal.In 1991, Visy's revenue reached 100 million USD. 15 years later, this number has increased 15 times. By 2016, the company recorded a turnover of USD 3 billion. In the US market, from 46th position, Pratt has risen to become the 5th packaging manufacturer in the industry.In 2009, Richard passed away, Anthony took over as chairman, continuing his mission. Visy has a total of 120 factories across Australia, New Zealand and Thailand and sales offices in Asia, Europe and the United States.Out of his father's shadow, Anthony doubled his efforts. While Richard is famous for waking up at 5 am and checking factories, his son has started the day at 4 am on the other side of the globe. Currently, the president's net worth is about $ 12.9 billion and he has received numerous awards in both the United States and Australia for his environmental efforts.Not only is Australia's most successful and wealthiest private company, the Pratt family has a tradition of philanthropy for generations.In 1978, Richard Pratt and his wife founded the Pratt Philanthropies Foundation with the mission of "Enriching our community" and one of Australia's largest charitable sources. Since its inception in 1978, the Pratt Foundation has donated more than $ 250 million to thousands of community organizations in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Israel.Anthony and his mother continued to maintain the operation of the Pratt Foundation after his father died.In 2017, billionaire Anthony also announced a donation of 1 billion Australian dollars (about 796.5 million USD) to charity before his death. Pratt's projects focus on the Royal Children's Hospital, Murdoch Children's Research Institute and the Prince Prince Trust Australia. Art organizations such as the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Opera Australia are also sponsored.Anthony said: "My goal is to give away 1 billion dollars before I die. I can afford it. It's a great privilege and honor." He was also named by Forbes as one of the charity heroes of 2018.