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Two years ago
Jack Bendat dies aged 96
Jack Bendat dies: Pioneer of business, basketball and philanthropy dies ages 96
The philanthropic mindset of a post-business Jack Bendat was bared in a throwaway 2014 moment.
Asked why he had bailed out a failing Perth Wildcats with $8 million from his personal fortune - after the diminutive genius' entrepreneurial skills in property, wine and media had made him a WA business giant - Dr Bendat was typically unequivocal.
"What am I going to do, buy a f..king jet boat?" he quipped with his trademark smirk.
American-born Dr Bendat died on February 17, just two months shy of his 97th birthday.
He had coveted getting to 102 years his Polish-born father Benjamin almost reached before his death in 2005. But he and his wife had also committed to emulating his father’s widely-noted service to charity and their resulting philanthropy leaves a significant legacy in WA - an adopted home “utopia” to which he always said he owed plenty.
Dr Bendat was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2009 Queen’s Birthday Honours list for service to the community after being named, for similar reasons, WA’s 2002 Citizen of the Year.
