Show Notes
Joining our series on this episode is special guest Charlie Bass, Founder of Bass Group & renowned businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.
For more than five decades, Charlie has been an instrumental figure in corporate Australia, playing a leading role in the establishment and success of companies in a diverse range of sectors, including mining, resources development, technology & entrepreneurial research.
Born in Reading Pennsylvania, Charlie was raised in Florida to entrepreneurial parents, with his father a small business owner who frequently moved the family in pursuit of new opportunities including to Toronto, wherein Charlie later completed his secondary school education.
With a passion for the outdoors from a young age, Charlie enrolled in university studies in geology, mining and later mineral processing, completing undergraduate and post-graduate degrees, culminating in a Scholarship to complete a master’s degree at Queens University in Ontario.
Following two years working in the US with mining firm Amax Inc, Charlie re-located to Australia in 1978 and began working on Amax’s Mount Newman Iron Ore project, later establishing a software mining company known as MeTech in 1980.
Alongside fellow Western Australian business identity, Tony Poli, Charlie Co-Founded Eagle Mining Corporation in 1992, a business that grew throughout the course of the 90’s and fast became one of the most successful local exploration firms, before being acquired five years later in 1997 in a c. $250m deal.
Three years later in 2000, the pair combined again to establish Aquila Resources Limited, an ASX-listed business initially focused on gold exploration but that later transitioned into other resources including coal, manganese & iron ore.
In 2014, Aquila Resources was acquired in a c. $1.4bn deal between Baosteel-Aurizon, enabling Charlie to pursue a number of external interests and pursuits in the technology, internet & venture capital sectors.
Charlie is also the Founder and Managing Director of Eagle Mountain Mining (EM2), a copper focussed exploration and development company which he established in 2017 with the core objective of becoming a low emission producer to supply the rapidly growing green energy market.
In 2006, he launched the Bass Family Foundation, a charity vehicle purposely designed to provide education for disadvantaged children (particularly in remote area’s) as well as to provide resources & support to indigenous programs throughout Western Australia.
Charlie is also the Founder of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Research and Innovation (CERI), an organisation established in 2015 and which is primarily funded by the Bass Family Foundation to provide targeted programs, grants, events and resources to power the entrepreneurial pursuits and business ideas of future generations of Western Australians.
To-date, CERI has raised over $7.5m in funds to support more than 600 aspiring entrepreneurs.
Charlie was also named 2024 Senior Western Australian of the Year and invests privately through his family office, Bass Group.
Our exclusive interview with Charlie Bass explores his background, his transition from the US to Australia, the key pillars of his success, fundamentals he’s learnt from a lifetime in business and what he regards as his key achievements in a remarkable five-decade long career.
Host - Rob Langton | Ready Media Group
The Interview - Australia's most watched business series.
More from The Interview Australia
Tim Gurner is one of Australia’s most recognised—and most debated—property developers and entrepreneurs.
There are families whose stories are written into the physical and cultural landscape of Australia.The Belgiorno-Nettis family is one of them.Through Transfield, the family helped deliver some of the nation’s most significant infrastructure, engineering and industrial projects.
Sidney Hordern Myer AO carries one of the most significant names in Australian business, philanthropy and public life.But this is not simply a conversation about inheritance.It is a conversation with a man who has spent decades actively shaping, extending and protecting that inheritance — through business, investment, the arts, regional Australia, philanthropy, cultural institutions, Australian-Asian relations and public service.The Myer story begins with Sidney Myer — born Simcha Baevski — who arrived in Melbourne in 1899 as a young Jewish migrant from the former Russian Empire, with little money and limited English. From the goldfields of regional Victoria to a small drapery store in Bendigo, and ultimately to the creation of the Myer Emporium in Melbourne, his life became one of the great Australian stories of enterprise, reinvention and contribution.More than a century later, Sid Myer has carried that story forward in his own way.He has spent more than 35 years across retailing and investment management in Australia and overseas, served as Chairman of Myer Family Investments, and played a central role in stewarding one of Australia’s most important family investment groups.Beyond business, his life’s work has extended deeply into the civic and philanthropic life of the country. As a long-serving Trustee of the Sidney Myer Fund, a Trustee of the Estate of Sidney Myer, Chair of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia Foundation, and a director across organisations including the Yulgilbar Group of Companies, the Yulgilbar Foundation and the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation, Sid has helped continue a family tradition that has shaped Australian culture, education, the arts, regional development and community life for generations.His service has also reached into rural and regional Australia, conservation, zoological organisations, cultural exchange and the strengthening of Australia’s relationship with Asia — work recognised through his appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the community through philanthropy, equality, the arts and Australian-Asian relations.In this rare long-form conversation, Sid Myer reflects on the responsibility of carrying a name that belongs not only to a family, but to the national story.This is a conversation about migration, ambition, memory and obligation.About what is passed from one generation to the next.About the discipline required to preserve a legacy without being trapped by it.And about the question at the centre of every enduring family enterprise: what does it mean to inherit something larger than yourself — and still make your own contribution?From the remarkable life of the original Sidney Myer to Sid Myer’s own decades of leadership across investment, philanthropy, culture and public life, this episode explores one of the great dynastic stories in modern Australia.A story of business.A story of giving.A story of family.And a story that remains deeply woven into the fabric of Australian life.Subscribe for more rare long-form conversations with Australia’s most influential business families, founders, investors & cultural figures.Link: www.youtube.com/theinterviewauFounder & Host - Rob LangtonProduction via Ready Media Group.Further Information:https://myerfamilyinvestments.com.au/https://www.mutualtrust.com.au/https://readymedia.com.au/
Steven Wilson AM has spent a lifetime helping shape Queensland business, finance and civic life.
Geoff Wilson AO is one of Australia’s most influential investors, fund managers and advocates for retail shareholders.Founder of Wilson Asset Management, Geoff has spent more than four decades in markets — from his early years at Scottish Amicable and broking through the 1987 crash, to launching Wilson Asset Management in 1997 and building one of Australia’s most recognised listed investment company platforms.In this landmark conversation, Geoff reflects on his unconventional path from Glen Iris, St Kevin’s and La Trobe University into finance; the lessons that shaped his investment philosophy; what makes for enduring excellence in funds management; and why temperament, trust and discipline matter as much as intelligence.We also explore his advocacy for retail investors, Australia’s competitiveness, the major investment themes ahead, the rise of AI in funds management, and the creation of Future Generation — the philanthropic investment model that has now donated more than $100 million to young Australians and their communities.A rare and deeply considered conversation with Geoff Wilson AO on markets, leadership, purpose and legacy.The Interview Australia — Australia’s flagship business program.Subscribe for more in-depth conversations with Australia’s leading founders, investors, business builders and industry pioneers.