Perron dies aged 96

Western Australia has lost one of its most successful businessmen and philanthropists, with self-made billionaire Stan Perron passing away this morning at the age of 96.

The founder and chairman of the Perron Group is survived by his wife, Jean, three children and seven grandchildren.

Perron Group chief executive Ross Robertson expressed his sympathies to Mr Perron’s family and loved ones.

“Mr Perron often spoke of his determination to lift himself from a life of deprivation and, in his own words, to do better for himself and his family,” Mr Robertson said.

“Mr Perron never lost his passion for his work attending to his business interests and charitable work by joining his management team in our Perth office almost every day up until recently.

“On behalf of our board and all our employees, we express our deepest sympathies to Mr Perron’s loved ones.”

Mr Perron was born in Perth in 1922 but spent most of his youth in the Goldfields region, joining the workforce at the age of 14 and eventually building Perron Group with net assets of more than $4 billion.

The Perron empire now spans a portfolio of shopping centres and other properties, exclusive Toyota distribution rights within Australia, and iron ore royalties. 

Over his career he worked in industries as diverse as mining, land clearing and earthmoving.

Mr Perron was in the trucking business before he had reached the age of 20, working in Darwin during WWII.

In his early career he owned a range of businesses, including milk bars, a taxi service and an earth-moving company with his brother Keith at Perron Brothers.

He sold that business to engineering company Thiess in 1961, but remained at the helm, overseeing the company's distribution of Toyota vehicles,

He then partnered with David Golding in a Toyota dealership in WA.

His first foray into property came with the purchase of a series of properties along Great Eastern Highway, from the causeway to the airport. 

He famously gave late prospectors Lang Hancock and Peter Wright their start in iron ore in 1959 with a £500 loan.

Mr Perron founded the Stan Perron Charitable Trust in 1978, which now supports more than 150 organisations. 

The charitable trust is the state’s third largest philanthropic foundation as ranked on the BNiQ Search Engine by funds distributed, having allocated $4.4 million in the most recent financial year.

Last month Mr Perron won a philanthropy award at the State Arts and Culture Partnership Honours for a $1 million donation to the Foundation for the WA Museum.