His name may not mean much to the average Greek but in Australia the expat Harry Stamoulis is well known and his name is featured each year in the lists of the richest Hellenic businessmen. This year, he’s returning to the forefront by building the highest skyscraper in the country.

His father, Spiros from Epirus, immigrated at the age of 12, in search of a better life. Today, Harry Stamoulis is chief of the Stamoulis Property Group the company that his father Spyros laid the foundation for. He now manages it with his sister Melina, while in posession of several Media as well. It should be noted that the family fortune has now reached 540 million dollars.

According to fortunegreece.com, Stamoulis Property Group owns land in Greece as well. The company was created in 2004 out of the profits of the sale of Gold Metal beverage company owned by the family. In 2007, Spiros Stamoulis passed away and the helm of the company is taken over by his son Harry.

The name of the Greek-Australian businessman has been associated with the real estate market and his obsession to build the tallest skyscraper in Australia, but also the entire southern hemisphere of Earth. He was intending to build an enormous building, whose height would have reached 404 meters.

However, his plan to build the towering tower in Collins Street in central Melbourne was wrecked as the city’s mayor expressed strong objections,stating that this would shadow the nearby river and the Southbank area. The result was that Stamoulis Property Group compromised and limited the height of the tower “568 Collins” to 224 meters. It should be noted that that the tower will be completed in 2015 and will be the tallest in Australia.

The Greek tycoon was recently in the press with the sale of his luxury penthouse in the Royal Domain Tower for the sum of 13.3 million USD. The apartment was purchased in 2006 for 5.54 million, with Harry Stamoulis spending tens of millions in order to make it exactly as he wished.

His love of Greece and the links with his father’s home country culminated in the establishment of the Hellenic Museum of Melbourne by Spiros Stamoulis, which cooperates with the Benaki Museum of Greece.