Robert Fredrick ("Ric") Stowe (born 1944) is a businessman who was once prominent in

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 th ...

. Stowe acquired

Griffin Coal Griffin Coal is a large coal mine near the town of Collie in Western Australia, producing about of coal annually. In September 2022 its current owner, the Griffin Coal Mining Company, a subsidiary of Lanco Infratech, entered receivership. In D ...

in 1979 and later acquired

SkyWest Skywest may refer to: *SkyWest Airlines, an airline serving the United States, Canada and Mexico **SkyWest, Inc., the parent company of SkyWest Airlines *Skywest Airlines, now operating as Virgin Australia Regional Airlines Virgin Australia R ...

and East-West Airlines during the 1980s. In 1984, Stowe joined the John Curtin Foundation along with

Alan Bond Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was an English-born Australian businessman noted for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings. These included his central role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s, and what was at the time ...

Ernest Henry Lee-Steere Sir Ernest Henry Lee-Steere, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, KBE (22 December 19129 January 2011) was a prominent Australian businessman. He was particularly noted for his involvement in horse racing in Western Australia, be ...

and

Laurie Connell Lawrence Robert "Laurie" Connell (died 27 February 1996) was a Western Australian business entrepreneur. As chairman of the Rothwells merchant bank, he was well known for his dealings with the Government of Western Australia and his close rela ...

to raise funds for the then

premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive bra ...

, Brian Burke. The reclusive millionaire moved to

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

in 1986, mooring his yacht ''Capella'' at the tax haven. Since then he has split his time between his new home and Western Australia. Stowe separated from his

partner Partner, Partners, The Partner, or, The Partners may refer to: Books * ''The Partner'' (Grisham novel), by John Grisham, 1997 * ''The Partner'' (Jenaro Prieto novel), 1928 * ''The Partners'' (book), a 1983 book by James B. Stewart * ''Partner'' (m ...

, Jemma Lee-Steere ( Ernest Lee-Steere's daughter), in 1990. The subsequent court battle was subjected to media scrutiny. The couple had three daughters and a son and had been together for ten years. Though they never married, she changed her surname to Stowe by

deed poll A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract because it binds only one party (law), party. Et ...

at his insistence. In 1994 she sued Stowe for 250 million and, by 2000, a settlement was reached. In 2003, Stowe married Anne-Margaret MacDermott of Perth, his fourth wife. In 2010 administrators were called in when Griffin Coal failed to pay a 25-million instalment on 475 million worth of bonds. Griffin had also failed to pay the

Australian Taxation Office The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is an Australian statutory agency and the principal revenue collection body for the Australian Government. The ATO has responsibility for administering the Australian federal taxation system, superannuati ...

a 5-million instalment of a 65-million debt. The company collapsed shortly afterwards, leaving an estimated 2 billion debt on coal and associated energy assets. Soon after, properties from another Stowe company, WR Carpenter Agriculture Pty Ltd, which controlled a herd of 50,000 cattle, were being sold off; these included

Minilya Minilya is a location in Western Australia north of Carnarvon on the North West Coastal Highway. It is at a junction in the North West Coastal Highway, where the turn off to Exmouth is from that location. The main highway then continues to the ...

and Joanna Plains Stations. A

fire sale A fire sale is the sale of goods at extremely discounted prices. The term originated in reference to the sale of goods at a heavy discount due to fire damage. It may or may not be defined as a closeout, the final sale of goods to zero inventory ...

of Stowe assets followed, with his estate, Devereaux Farm, near Bullsbrook selling in 2013. The propertywith a 20-room, 8-bathroom mansion, two swimming pools, two

helipad A helipad is a landing area or platform for helicopters and powered lift aircraft. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard s ...

s and a polo fieldfor which the asking price was 70 million, sold for 21.35 million in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stowe, Ric Living people 1944 births Australian businesspeople Australian expatriates in Monaco