Graeme Wood (businessman)

Graeme Wood (born 1947; Rockhampton, Queensland)[1] is an Australian internet entrepreneur, philanthropist and environmentalist.

He is the founder of online travel site Wotif.com[2] and The Global Mail, a not-for-profit multimedia site for journalism in the public interest.[3] In January 2013, Wood was named as a prominent backer of a new digital edition of The Guardian in Australia.[4] He said it would add quality and diversity to Australian media as well as fostering a closer interaction with the rest of the world.

In July 2013 The Global Mail became the first institutional member of the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), as part of Wood’s three-year, US$1.5 million grant to bolster cross-border investigative reporting.[5] The deal includes a new Global Investigative Journalism Fellowship for an Australian journalist and full-time research desk for the consortium.

In June 2013, Wood also was elected a member of the board of directors of the US-based Center for Public Integrity, the nonprofit, nonpartisan news organisation that supports the ICIJ.[6]

Other businesses Wood has founded, co-founded, or acquired interests in include Wotnews, which closed down in 2012[7] after spawning We Are Hunted, a music recommendation website sold to Twitter in 2013.[8] Wood also founded Wild Mob in 2008, a not-for-profit organisation that aims to protect Australia’s most threatened species and ecosystems, and Artology in 2011, an organization that unlocks the creative potential of young people through experiential learning in the performing arts, through programs such as WotOpera.

Wood was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2012 Australia Day Honours.[9] He has been awarded Suncorp Queenslander of the Year,[10] received an Honorary Doctorate of Economics from the University of Queensland and has been a large donor to the University.[11]

An environmentalist and advocate of government transparency, Wood gave the largest political donation in Australian history in 2010, to the federal Greens party.[12]

In 2011, Wood partnered with Jan Cameron through Triabunna Investments to purchase the Triabunna Woodchip Mill in Tasmania.[13] Although the mill was supposed to keep operating for five years it remains mothballed.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Graeme's now even richer". The Morning Bulletin. 3 June 2006. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  2. ↑ How Graeme Wood made his fortune, from Money Magazine, April 2006.
  3. ↑ Why The Global Mail has focused in on data and investigations, from journalism.co.uk, June 2013.
  4. ↑ Guardian Australia launches with promise of 'fresh and independent view', from The Guardian, May 2013.
  5. ↑ Press Release - ICIJ and The Global Mail enter partnership, from The Global Mail, July 2013.
  6. ↑ Center gets $1.5M investment into ICIJ, from The Centre for Public Integrity, June 2013.
  7. ↑ Wotnews to shut down on June 23 as development team heads to New York, from Smart Company, June 2012.
  8. ↑ How three Australians took Twitter into music, from the Financial Review, April 2013.
  9. ↑ Australia Day honours to UQ community members, from The University Of Queensland, January 2012.
  10. ↑ Suncorp Queenslander of the Year Award Recipients, from suncorp.com.au, June 2008
  11. ↑ A pioneering engineer and a visionary philanthropist have been recognised with The University of Queensland’s highest honour, From Contact Magazine published by The University of Queensland, October 2011
  12. ↑ Web millionaire bankrolled Greens, from The Age, January 2011.
  13. ↑ Greenies buy woodchip mill, from The Age, July 2011.
  14. ↑ Deal holds fate of Triabunna woodchip mill, from The Examiner, November 2012.