Richard J. Pratt (born Ryszard Przecicki; 10 December 193428 April 2009) was an Australian businessman, chairman of the privately owned company Visy Industries, and a leading figure of Melbourne society. In the year before his death Pratt was Australia's fourth-richest person, with a personal fortune valued at billion. Early life Ryszard Przecicki was born in the Free City of Danzig (present-day Gdańsk, Poland) to Jewish parents Leon and Paula on 10 December 1934. His family immigrated to Australia in 1938 seeking safe refuge from the Nazis and settled in Shepparton, Victoria, changing their surname from Przecicki to Pratt. Pratt had a rough journey travelling to Australia without getting caught by the Nazis. The family faced food shortages en route. Pratt was educated at Grahamvale Primary School, Shepparton High School and University High School and enrolled in a Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Melbourne in 1953. He played Australian rules football, as a ruckman. After starting his career at Lemnos (now the Shepparton Swans), Pratt played for Carlton in the Victorian Football League's (VFL) under-19s competition. He was awarded the Morrish Medal in 1953 for being deemed the "best and fairest" U-19 player that year. Pratt did not continue his footballing career to senior VFL level, instead focusing on other interests. Pratt combined study with acting with the Union Theatre Repertory Company and working as salesman for the family business, Visy Board. After touring London and New York in 1957 with a production of Ray Lawler's Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, playing the role of Johnnie Dowd, he returned to Melbourne and Visy. He also appeared on television. Business career Following the death of his father Leon in February 1969, Pratt took over his father's business at Visy Industries, which at that time had several hundred employees and an annual turnover of A$5 million. Under Pratt's direction, Visy expanded from two factories in Melbourne to more than 55 plants across Australia, United States, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea. From cardboard boxes and packaging, Visy moved into waste paper recycling. Later in the 1990s Pratt expanded his operations considerably into the New York waste paper business. In 1993 the National Crime Authority (NCA) raided Pratt's offices in connection with an investigation into businessman John Elliott's foreign exchange dealings and Elliott's spoiling domestic stake in BHP while Elliott's company, Elders IXL, was insolvent. The following year, NCA paid costs