John B Fairfax AO
Director & Investment Committee Chair
John B Fairfax AO is a director of Marinya Capital, his family office investment group. He began his career in newspapers in 1961 as a cadet journalist on The Sydney Morning Herald at John Fairfax Limited. He served as an overseas correspondent and worked in management positions throughout Fairfax before joining the Board in 1979 following three years managing The Federal Capital Press of Australia, publisher of The Canberra Times. He resigned as Deputy Chairman of Fairfax at the time of the Tryart takeover in 1987, which ended almost 150 years of the family’s ownership. He acquired an interest in Rural Press Limited where he was Chairman from 1990 until 2007 when it merged with Fairfax Media. He then rejoined the Fairfax Board until standing down in 2010. He was a member and chairman of various newspaper industry organisations and was inducted into The Australian Media Hall of Fame in 2018. John has been a director of other public companies including Westpac Bank, GE Crane and Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company.
John is actively involved with not-for-profit organisations including being President of The Girls & Boys Brigade and has enjoyed a long association with Red Room Poetry (former Patron), the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW (former Chairman of the Foundation). He is a founding trustee of the Anthony Rothe Memorial Trust.
