Entrepreneur had some big dreams
MURDERED Gold Coast businessman Philip Carlyle was a New Zealand expat with big dreams of striking it rich.
In 1982, aged 33, Mr Carlyle started a microwave company in his native Auckland. He had big plans for the business, but it soon went into liquidation.
Five years later he moved his young family to Australia.
In the 10 years leading up to his death, Australian Securities Commission records show Mr Carlyle had been a director of eight businesses, all of which had failed or been wound up.
His ventures included Mexican restaurants, the manufacture of corn chips, pads to keep flowers moist and a bakery.
His eldest son, Ben Carlyle, described his father as an “entrepreneur”, telling the Bulletin in 2016 his dad had a “go-getter energy, to be a successful businessman”.
The father-of-three was believed to be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt when he died. The year he was killed, Mr Carlyle and his business partner, Neil Pentland, were on the brink of a new internet venture they believed would make them a lot of money.
At the time of the 48-yearold’s death police refused to discuss this deal, telling media there had to be confidentiality for the sake of his partner, due to “cut-throat’’ business competition. Despite his ambition Mr Carlyle was a dedicated family man and a devout Catholic who helped build the St Benedict’s Church at Mudgeeraba. His funeral was held there.
He often travelled overseas, taking his family on adventures. When Mr Carlyle was shot dead his youngest son Stefan was just 14, his middle child Benjamin was one month shy of his 18th birthday and his daughter, Tania, was 20.