Dr Elias Jreissati AM

Dr Elias Jreissati AM was born in Lebanon, migrated to Australia in late 1983 at the age of 18, and worked as a supermarket shelf stacker who could not speak English.

Within 15 months, he had taught himself to read, write and speak English fluently, and in mid 1985, he bought the first of four businesses which he owned and operated over a period of four years. The profits generated by these businesses allowed him to begin ‘dabbling’ in property.

In 1989 at the age of 24, Dr Jreissati was a millionaire but two years later, he lost it all during the early 1990’s recession “that we had to have”.  Four years later, with his unwavering personal drive and work ethic, he had fully recovered.

Today, Dr Elias Jreissati is the Executive Group Chairman of the Jreissati Group of Companies which includes their leading property development and investment company, Bensons Property Group as well as Levantine Hill Estate.

Bensons has over one billion dollars of current work in progress, along the eastern seaboard, in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania and Levantine Hill Estate is one of Australia’s most significant and rapidly developing wine brands seeing it win accolades across the world.

In 2007, the Jreissati family purchased the first of three significant vineyards to launch their premium wine label. Making a real economic impact in the local region, the winery business has brought the most significant investment to Australian wine tourism in decades. Today, the business includes a state of the art, architecturally stunning, environmentally efficient winery, restaurant, cellar door, function spaces and a hotel – under construction.

Success for Dr Jreissati, has brought with it a love for the arts and a strong philanthropic ethos.  Dr Jreissati devotes much of his time to his philanthropy work and strives to give back to communities, the arts and medical research across multiple Australian cities and internationally.

Most notably, as a survivor of pancreatic cancer, he set up the Jreissati Pancreatic Centre (JPC) at Epworth with a mission to develop early diagnosis tools and to improve the care and outcomes for those suffering from this disease. In a very short time, the JPC has become a notable centre in Australia and on the world stage. Today, the JPC has over 20 active research programs and is making a real and tangible difference to what is usually an extremely challenging outcome.

Dr Jreissati has held numerous chairman, patron and board member positions within different organizations. His charity work spreads across many sectors including healthcare and medicine, education, religion, children in need, the arts, tourism, Indigenous causes and multiple community needs throughout Australia and abroad.

There are galleries, sports facilities, gardens and a multitude of buildings bearing the Jreissati family name across Victoria and Queensland, recognising the support of the Jreissati family.

Dr Jreissati has been admitted as a Knight of the ‘Order of The Holy Cross of Jerusalem’ and awarded a Medal in the Order of Australia amongst other recognitions.

Dr Jreissati spends his time between Melbourne and the Yarra Valley with his wife Colleen. He has three daughters and two granddaughters.