Billionaire Gives $10M to Protect 17,000 Acres in Australia

When Mike and Sue Gregg found themselves with extraordinary wealth, they faced a choice: buy a yacht or save a forest. They chose the forest, and thousands of koalas, gliders, and other threatened animals are now safer because of it.

The technology investor and his wife donated $10 million to purchase six adjoining properties in Australia's Great Dividing Range near Port Macquarie in New South Wales. The land spans about 17,000 acres of towering forests, rainforest-covered gorges, rivers, and grassy woodlands.

The properties had been used for cattle farming and logging for decades. Some sections were so recently logged that trucks were still hauling away giant trees during final inspections before the purchase closed.

Now, instead of chainsaws and cattle, the land will be managed entirely for conservation through the Great Southern Land Conservancy, a nonprofit the couple helped establish last year.

"We found ourselves in the very fortunate position to do some good," Sue Gregg told The Sydney Morning Herald. "We love nature and wildlife, so we thought preserving and restoring land was the best thing we could do with our money."

The reserve is already teeming with life. Koalas, greater gliders, spotted-tail quolls, glossy black cockatoos, frogs, wallabies, and turtles all call this landscape home.

Conservation teams plan to restore damaged areas while protecting the forests from invasive weeds, feral animals, and future destruction. The work will give threatened species crucial habitat as Australia continues to face challenges from development and climate change.

The Ripple Effect

Conservation leaders say the donation represents one of the largest private gifts ever made for land conservation in New South Wales. The impact extends beyond just this property, too.

By protecting such a large, continuous stretch of land, the sanctuary creates safe corridors for wildlife to move, breed, and thrive. This kind of connected habitat is critical for species like koalas, which need large territories and have been devastated by habitat loss and recent bushfires.

The Greggs' approach also shows other wealthy Australians a different path forward. Mike Gregg, an early investor in software company WiseTech Global, was refreshingly direct about his priorities.

"We've got to think about how we're going to do something with this, and it's not buying a big yacht," he said.

That choice means 17,000 acres of forest will keep standing, breathing, and sheltering life for generations to come.