Jack Bendat (6 May 1925 – 17 February 2022) was an American-born Australian businessman most known for his ownership of the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Perth Arena, ...

basketball team between 2007 and 2021. Previously involved in construction and media businesses with longtime business partner

Kerry Stokes Kerry Matthew Stokes (born John Patrick Alford on 13 September 1940) is an Australian businessman. He holds business interests in a diverse range of industries including electronic and print media, property, mining, and construction equipment. ...

, Bendat was involved in philanthropic and sporting interests.

Early life

Bendat was born in the United States to a Polish-born father. He served as a private in the US Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, including in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. He migrated with his family from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

, in 1966.

Career

Bendat, along with business partners, Kerry Stokes and Kevin Merifield, were involved in the development of shopping centres in Perth and regional Western Australia. His business accomplishments include building Bunbury Plaza, one of the first country shopping centres in Western Australia, and went on to work on development of 11 shopping centres around the state. He also established country media service GWN (now

GWN7 GWN7 was an Australian television network serving all of Western Australia outside metropolitan Perth. It launched on 10 March 1967 as ''BTW-3'' in Bunbury. It was an affiliate of the Seven Network and served one of the largest geographic tel ...

). One of Bendat's major contributions has been the Bendat Family Comprehensive Cancer Centre at the St John of God Subiaco Hospital. Bendat's contribution to the community was recognised as WA Citizen of the Year in 2002. In 2006, he was awarded an honorary

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

from the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

, and in 2009 was appointed a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

. Bendat bought the

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

club in 2007. In his time as owner, the club won six NBL championships: 2009–10, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19 and 2019–20, and expanded significantly, drawing larger crowds to their new home court at RAC Arena. In April 2015, Bendat purchased the licence for the Perth WNBL team, the West Coast Waves and renamed them the Perth Lynx, and the following month, on his 90th Birthday, the

WA Basketball Centre The WA Basketball Centre (also known by its sponsored name, the Bendat Basketball Centre) is a multi-purpose stadium located in Perth, Western Australia. The stadium features eight courts, including two basketball show courts with 1,100 perma ...

was renamed the ''Bendat Basketball Centre'' in his honour. He sold the Wildcats in July 2021.

Personal life and death

Bendat's father died in 2005 at 101 years old. Bendat was married to Eleanor until her death in 2018, at the age of 92. They had two children. Their son, Paul, died of cancer in 2017. Bendat died on 17 February 2022, at the age of 96.

Net worth

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bendat, Jack 1925 births 2022 deaths American emigrants to Australia American people of Polish descent Australian businesspeople Australian people of Polish descent Australian philanthropists Members of the Order of Australia Sports owners