Sidney Hordern Myer AO carries one of the most significant names in Australian business, philanthropy and public life.
But this is not simply a conversation about inheritance.
It is a conversation with a man who has spent decades actively shaping, extending and protecting that inheritance — through business, investment, the arts, regional Australia, philanthropy, cultural institutions, Australian-Asian relations and public service.
The Myer story begins with Sidney Myer — born Simcha Baevski — who arrived in Melbourne in 1899 as a young Jewish migrant from the former Russian Empire, with little money and limited English.
From the goldfields of regional Victoria to a small drapery store in Bendigo, and ultimately to the creation of the Myer Emporium in Melbourne, his life became one of the great Australian stories of enterprise, reinvention and contribution.
More than a century later, Sid Myer has carried that story forward in his own way.
He has spent more than 35 years across retailing and investment management in Australia and overseas, served as Chairman of Myer Family Investments, and played a central role in stewarding one of Australia’s most important family investment groups.
Beyond business, his life’s work has extended deeply into the civic and philanthropic life of the country.
As a long-serving Trustee of the Sidney Myer Fund, a Trustee of the Estate of Sidney Myer, Chair of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia Foundation, and a director across organisations including the Yulgilbar Group of Companies, the Yulgilbar Foundation and the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation, Sid has helped continue a family tradition that has shaped Australian culture, education, the arts, regional development and community life for generations.
His service has also reached into rural and regional Australia, conservation, zoological organisations, cultural exchange and the strengthening of Australia’s relationship with Asia — work recognised through his appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the community through philanthropy, equality, the arts and Australian-Asian relations.
In this rare long-form conversation, Sid Myer reflects on the responsibility of carrying a name that belongs not only to a family, but to the national story.
This is a conversation about migration, ambition, memory and obligation.
About what is passed from one generation to the next.
About the discipline required to preserve a legacy without being trapped by it.
And about the question at the centre of every enduring family enterprise: what does it mean to inherit something larger than yourself — and still make your own contribution?
From the remarkable life of the original Sidney Myer to Sid Myer’s own decades of leadership across investment, philanthropy, culture and public life, this episode explores one of the great dynastic stories in modern Australia.
A story of business.
A story of giving.
A story of family.
And a story that remains deeply woven into the fabric of Australian life.
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Link: www.youtube.com/theinterviewau
Founder & Host - Rob Langton
Production via Ready Media Group.
Further Information:
https://myerfamilyinvestments.com.au/
