DUBLIN (Reuters) – Tony O'Reilly, the Irish media mogul and former HJ Heinz boss who first came to fame as a British & Irish Lions rugby record-breaker, died on Saturday at the age of 88.
Mr O'Reilly, one of Ireland's most prominent entrepreneurs, spent decades building a media group from the Pacific to India, South Africa and Ireland, before collapsing in the 2008 global financial crisis and ending his career. went bankrupt.
State broadcaster RTE quoted a spokesperson for the businessman as saying he died in a Dublin hospital after a short illness.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said: “Mr O'Reilly was a giant in sport, business and media who left a lasting legacy in all three. He was a trailblazer and a leader among many other Irish-born internationals. “He paved the way for other business figures to follow.” statement.
Mr Harris said Mr O'Reilly's philanthropic work was through his founding of the Ireland Fund in the midst of Northern Ireland's sectarian violence in the 1970s, which raised hundreds of millions of euros from US donors for reconciliation projects. , said it had had a “transformative effect” on the island of Ireland.
Born in Dublin in 1936, O'Reilly won the first of his 29 rugby caps as a winger for Ireland at the age of 18.
He scored six Test tries on two tours with the British and Irish Lions in the 1950s, making him the most successful player in the Lions team, selected every four years from the powerhouse teams of England, Ireland, Scotland and Scotland. His 37 tries in a match is also an all-time record. Wales.
At the age of 26, while continuing to play rugby for Ireland, he joined the board of Irish Dairy, a moribund state association, and Kerry, which remains one of Ireland's most successful international brands. Created gold butter.
About a decade later, he became president and chief operating officer of food giant HJ Heinz. By 1987, he had succeeded the Heinz founder's son and became the first non-family member to serve as chairman.
The smooth-talking O'Reilly helped boost HJ Heinz (now Kraft Heinz) from $908 million to $11 billion in revenue during his 18-year tenure. By the time of his retirement in 1994, he had become Ireland's first millionaire.
That wealth included his Independent News & Media empire, which included the UK Independent and other newspapers, as well as radio stations around the world. When O'Reilly handed over control to his son in 2009, his stock price fell to a fraction of the newspaper's stock price as his debts mounted.
Three years later, the family lost control of the company.
Mr. O'Reilly previously served on the boards of General Electric, the Washington Post, Mobil Corporation (now ExxonMobil), and the New York Stock Exchange, but was involved in the bankruptcy of Irish luxury tableware maker Waterford Wedgwood in 2009. At the same time, they saw hundreds of millions of euros worth of investments disappear.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Franklin Paul)
Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters.
Photos to see – May 2024
