The Ville owner’s wealth jackpots again

THE Ville Resort- Casino owner Chris Morris is up there with some of the richest people in Australia.

His wealth continues to grow as revealed in the annual report of Computershare – the company Mr Morris founded.

Mr Morris is the biggest individual shareholder at the company, with 32,681,000 ordinary shares equivalent to 6.02 per cent.

As of Tuesday those shares were worth $ 19.88, equating to $ 649,698,280.

The shares have risen by about 35 per cent since the same time last year when they were worth $ 14.70.

The annual report shows Mr Morris was paid $ 116,368 in the past financial year for his role with the company.

He established Computershare, a share registry company, in 1978 and was appointed chief executive offi- cer in 1990. The 70- year- old is now a non- executive director of the company.

The businessman has pumped millions of dollars into redeveloping the Ville Resort-Casino since he bought it in 2014.

The Quarterdeck and Pavilion are two of the huge additions to the complex. Besides owning Townsville’s casino, Mr Morris has other interests in North Queensland.

He owns Orpheus Island Resort and is planning to develop an exclusive $ 4 million resort on Pelorus Island.

The Australian Financial Review’s Rich List valued Mr Morris at $ 1.02 billion.

He is also part of the Colonial Leisure Group, which owns entertainment venues throughout Australia, and is executive chairman of the Morris Group, which owns the casino as part of the Northern Escape Collection tourism businesses.