William Porteous (born 1945) is a Canadian-born Australian land developer and real estate agent.

Biography

Born in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Canada, Porteous was raised and educated in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

. He attended Simon Fraser University in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

where he attained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Resource Management and Town Planning. He worked for a short time as a trainee stock broker trader before coming to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in September 1970, when he was employed by the Bond Corporation from 1971 to 1979 as their project manager for various large Bond Corporation ventures. Porteous undertook several substantial property development projects of his own 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 ...

. In 1979 he accepted Acton Consolidated's offer to join their organization. He was appointed a director and partner of the Acton Group in 1983. In 2008, he embarked on his own and created William Porteous Properties International. Porteous specialises in prestige properties and developments. He is best known for his success in the top price range luxury properties and developments, especially in the Western suburbs, and as an

auctioneer An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

. In December 2009, he sold a property in

Mosman Park Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

for A$57.5 million, setting a record for the most expensive house ever sold in Australia. On 25 June 1992, he married Perth socialite

Rose Hancock Rose Porteous (born Rosario Magdalena Teresita Lacson on 26 October 1948), a Filipino-born Australian, is best known for her marriage to Western Australia iron ore mining magnate Lang Hancock, and the protracted legal battle with his daughter, ...

whose former husband (deceased a few months earlier) was Lang Hancock, the iron ore magnate, William's friend.

References

Living people Australian auctioneers Simon Fraser University alumni 1945 births {{australia-business-bio-stub