Wealthy businessman Dick Smith reveals the extent of his failures at school, assigning himself the name “Dick Miff” and coming close to last in his class.
The billionaire spoke with 2GB host Michael McLaren about his infamous ‘rags-to-riches’ story on Saturday, which marked his 79th birthday, and was shown during his school days on Sydney’s North Shore. made a small promise.
“I was totally hopeless,” Smith told McLaren.
“I went to Roseville Public School and was pretty hopeless in school because I still had my fifth class report card and I was 45th out of 47 in my class.”
Smith encouraged audience members with academically difficult children to consider the trajectory his life has taken despite the difficulties he faced.
“My message to parents and grandparents listening now is, if your child is pretty dumb in school, don’t exclude them, they’ll still be fine,” he said.
Smith recalls starting a huge electronics empire with just $610 when he launched Dick Smith Electronics in the parking lot of Big Bear in Neutral Bay.
“In my first year, my accountant said, ‘You made more money than the Prime Minister of Australia.
“My business was successful from the start because I was surrounded by talented people and worked really hard.”
The billionaire also addressed the devastating housing crisis felt by people across the country, with interest rates rising from 0.25% to 3.6% for 10 straight times.
Mr. Smith and his wife Pip, a successful business man, bought a house in Sydney with a backyard for $30,000.
“What worries me now is that young couples cannot afford a house with spare land in front and back for their children to have a small house and play cricket,” he said. I got
“Every generation may think they are better off, but in terms of house prices, they are actually worse off, and that is because of the amazing population growth.”
Smith expressed concern about the potential impact of Australia’s population reaching 100 million.
“I support immigration, but it’s a lot of people and not many people think 100 million people are immigrants. [people] It’s wise for a dry country like Australia,” he said.
His comments came after he argued that wealthy Australians “can and should” pay more taxes.
Australians with more than $3 million in retirement accounts will see their reduced tax rate doubled from 1 July 2025, projected to save their budgets $2 billion annually.
Smith argued that the rich should pay more because “the country needs money.”
“It’s a wonderful country. We have an incredible education, roads, an army, everything, and we need money to pay for it. We have big debts. Pay off our debts and give it to our children We have to try not to let that happen in the future,” he told 2GB.
