Rod Menzies
Rodney William "Rod" Menzies (born 31 August 1945 in Melbourne) is an Australian entrepreneur. In 1969 he founded Menzies International, a private company, which is one of Australia's 500 most profitable private companies.[1] Menzies International includes the cleaning business Menzies Group, the art auction house Menzies Art Brands (which includes both Deutscher-Menzies and Lawson-Menzies), the vineyard Noorilim Estate, and Menzies International Racing Stables.[2][3]
Menzies attended Caulfield Grammar School, and studied at the University of Melbourne (B.Com 1968) and Pepperdine University in Los Angeles (MBA 1988).[1] He opened Menzies Cleaning Services in 1969, and operated this business in America from 1984 to 1993.[1] After opening an art auction house in 1998, the takings of Menzies Art Brands ran second to Sotheby's Australian arm only twice, by 2010.[1]
In 2019, Rod Menzies and Menzies Art Brands were involved in a scandal surrounding the ownership of artwork in Menzies auctions. They were accused of inflating sales figures, as Mr Menzies had undisclosed ownership in the artwork. Menzies was accused of selling works he owned or co-owned through his auction houses without disclosing a financial interest and then buying some works back and including them in his sales results. The ACCC concluded after a lengthy probe that no further action would need to be taken.[4]
References
- Coslovich, Gabriella (23 January 2010). "The art of the deal". The Age.
- Menzies Group (2010). About The Menzies Group of Companies. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
- CareerOne (2010). Menzies International. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
- https://www.smh.com.au/national/art-auction-chief-rodney-menzies-admits-ownership-of-works-for-sale-20190616-p51y6i.html