Geoffrey Edelsten

Geoffrey Edelsten
Born Geoffrey Walter Edelsten
(1943-05-02) 2 May 1943
Melbourne, Victoria
Residence Melbourne, Victoria
Education Mount Scopus Memorial College
Princes Hill Secondary College
Alma mater University of Melbourne
Occupation
Years active 1966–present
Net worth Decrease $63 Million AUD (2012) [1]
Bankrupt (in United States)
Religion Judaism
Spouse(s)
Partner(s) Isabel Beard (1989-1990) [2]
Children One son
Website geoffedelsten.com.au

Geoffrey Walter Edelsten (born 2 May 1943) is an Australian medical entrepreneur who founded Allied Medical Group.

Edelsten was a general practitioner, but was deregistered in New South Wales in 1988 and later in Victoria. In 1990, he was jailed for perverting the course of justice and soliciting Christopher Dale Flannery to assault a former patient.[3][4][5]

In the 1980s, Edelsten's unconventional clinics and lifestyle attracted media attention.[6] He owned mansions, helicopters, and a fleet of Rolls-Royces and Lamborghinis with license plates such as Macho, Spunky and Sexy.[7] His multidisciplinary clinics – the forerunners of modern corporate medical practices – were open 24 hours, and were fitted with chandeliers, grand pianos, and mink-covered examination tables.[8]

In 2005, Edelsten and a business partner founded Allied Medical Group, which by 2010 administered 17 medical centres and employed around 250 general practitioners.[9][10] Edelsten is not, however, a shareholder or owner of the company.[11]

Edelsten was the first private owner of a major Australian football team – the Sydney Swans Football Club, which he bought in 1985.[12]

Early life

Edelsten was born in Carlton, an inner suburb of Melbourne, on 2 May 1943. He attended Princes Hill Public School and, in 1960, matriculated from Mount Scopus Memorial College, Australia's first Jewish co-educational school. He went on to study at the University of Melbourne, graduating with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree in 1966.

Music career

In the 1960s, Edelsten owned a Melbourne-based record company, Hit Productions, which worked with music publishers Festival Records. During the same period, his family owned the Edels record retail chain.[13]

In 1966, Edelsten was credited for co-writing the songs "I can't stop loving you, baby" and "A woman of gradual decline" for the group the Last Straws, whose singles were released on his short-lived Scope label.[14][15]

In 1967, Hit Productions signed the group Cam-Pact, whose debut single, "Something Easy"/"Michael", charted in Melbourne in early 1968.[13] Later in 1968, Edelsten co-produced the single "Love Machine" for the studio group Pastoral Symphony, comprising Glenn Shorrock and his band the Twilights, Ronnie Charles of the Groop and various other musicians.[16]

Medical career

Following his graduation in 1966, Edelsten practised as a resident medical officer at the Royal Melbourne Hospital before entering general practice. As a general practitioner, he worked in remote rural regions of New South Wales and Queensland, including the towns of Wauchope, Aramac and Walgett, where he bought his first private practice. He obtained a private pilot's licence in order to provide medical services to remote communities – often at no cost to patients when they could not afford to pay.[17]

In 1969, he and a colleague set up a new medical practice in the Sydney suburb of Coogee. After training an assistant doctor to perform the work in Walgett, Edelsten devoted more time to the Sydney practice, which soon expanded to Liverpool.[17]

In 1971, Edelsten and a colleague, Tom Wenkart, launched Preventicare,[18][19] a Sydney-based company providing diagnostic tests and computerised history-taking for doctors throughout Australia, using new equipment from the United States which could quickly and cheaply process pathology specimens.[20][21] Preventicare quickly incurred debts, because some of its operations were economically unsound, and because of the slow payment of patients' accounts totalling far more than the company's debts.[20] In July 1971, the Equity Court appointed a provisional liquidator to act as a temporary business manager to put the company's financial affairs in order.[20] Later that year, the General Manager of Preventicare, Brian Wickens, reported that the organisation was on a sound financial footing.[21] By 1975 – and under the new name of Morlea Pathology Services – it recorded annual profits of $2.5 million to $3 million.[18] Macquarie Professional Services is the successor to Preventicare.[18] During this period, Edelsten and his colleagues established eight practices in the Sydney area, and performed obstetrics at three western Sydney hospitals.[17] After three years in Los Angeles, California, Edelsten returned to Australia in 1978 to resume his general practice, surgical and obstetric commitments.

Following the establishment of Medicare by the Hawke government in February 1984, Edelsten began to run innovative and multi-disciplinary 24-hour medical centres which were the forerunners of modern corporate medical practices.[8] Decorated with chandeliers, white grand pianos and mink-covered examination tables, the clinics attracted considerable media attention.[6][8][22] Edelsten's clinics were the first in Australia to bulk-bill patients to Medicare so that they incurred no direct cost.[17][23] Within four months of opening, the first clinic was dealing with 2,000 patients every week. Edelsten eventually owned thirteen medical centres, in which approximately 20,000 patients consulted 200 doctors every week.[24]

Sydney Swans

On 31 July 1985, Edelsten became the first private owner of a major Australian football team – the Sydney Swans.[12]

In July 1986, Edelsten tried to buy the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks rugby league team, but his offer was refused by the game's administrators.[25][26]

Edelsten is a long-term benefactor of the Carlton Football Club and in March 2013 the club awarded him life membership.[27][28]

Late 1980s and onward

In 1988, New South Wales removed Edelsten from its medical register for using unqualified staff for laser surgery.[29][30]

In 1990, he was convicted for perverting the course of justice and soliciting Christopher Dale Flannery to assault a former patient.[31] The evidence used to convict Edelsten included a taped telephone conversation in which he and his wife discussed Flannery.[7] Edelsten provided a medical certificate stating that Flannery was unfit to stand trial because of an infection following tattoo removal surgery. The trial was adjourned.[7][32] Edelsten was jailed for one year.[3][8] Edelsten and Flannery's wife testified at a Victorian Medical Board hearing that Flannery was ill and in hospital and that he had no contact with Edelsten before or at the time of the assault.[33]

In 1992, New South Wales politician Fred Nile told Parliament that since Edelsten's deregistration in the state, he had relocated to Victoria where he could practise medicine.[34] Edelsten was subsequently removed from the Victorian medical register.[35]

In 2001, Edelsten launched "Gene E", a company offering paternity testing by mail order. The service advertised on late-night television. Customers telephoned for a testing kit, which the company mailed to them. In five working days of receiving the completed test, the company returned the results to the customer by post.[36]

Edelsten has sought readmittance as a medical practitioner in New South Wales.[37] In 2003, he told the NSW Medical Tribunal that he regretted his conduct and expressed remorse.[38] Referring to his doctorate in philosophy from Pacific Western University, counsel assisting the Tribunal claimed that people could be misled by the words "professor" and "doctor" into thinking Edelsten could practise medicine. Edelsten told the commission that he would no longer use the doctor honorific if necessary.[37] In 2004, the same tribunal banned Edelsten from applying again for four years.[39][40]

In 2005, Edelsten and a business partner founded Allied Medical Group.[11] Allied Medical Group employs approximately 250 general practitioners,[9] and runs seventeen "Superclinics" in Victoria, three in Queensland, and one in South Australia.[41] The clinics offer extended opening hours and bulk-billing for patients to Medicare for most services, so that the patient incurs no direct cost.[42] Following the Australian government's 2008 decision to open "GP Super Clinics" in 31 locations across the nation, Edelsten challenged the Department of Health's use of the word "superclinic", which he claimed to be a registered trademark belonging to Allied Medical Group.[43] In 2011, Allied Medical Group was sold to Sonic Healthcare, in a deal worth up to $200 million.[44]

In January 2014, Edelsten filed for bankruptcy in the United States. His Australian lawyers said this was a strategy to "better realise the investments made in the US".[45][46]

In 2015, Edelsten is a contestant in the fourth season of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia.[47]

Personal life

"Twenty minutes before the game the now famous pink and white helicopter circled the arena ...", from the television program VFL 1985: Geoff Edelsten buys Sydney Swans.[48]

Edelsten met and married his first wife, Leanne Nesbitt, in the early 1980s. She was 19 years old and working as a model. During this period, his flamboyant lifestyle attracted media attention – he owned mansions, a football team, a fleet of Rolls-Royces and Lamborghinis with license plates such as Macho, Spunky and Sexy,[7] and was associated, in the media (see screenshot), with a pink helicopter (although Edelsten and his wife insisted, in later interviews, that their helicopter was in fact blue and white).[7][48][49][50][51][52][53] The couple was divorced after three years of marriage.

Edelsten's second wife Brynne

In January 2009, Edelsten announced his intention to marry Brynne Gordon,[54] a 25-year-old fitness instructor from California.[55][56] They were married on Sunday 29 November 2009, in Melbourne's Crown Casino. The wedding was alleged to have cost approximately $3 million and featured a helicopter, a Bentley, 550 guests, circus performers and performances by Tom Burlinson and other headline acts. Guests received a pre-wedding DVD about Edelsten and Gordon featuring narration by actor Jason Alexander, who gave an address at the wedding. Fran Drescher, from The Nanny, also attended – although neither Alexander nor Drescher knew the couple.[57] Brynne Edelsten subsequently appeared in Series 11 of Dancing with the Stars,[58] from which she was eliminated on 12 June 2011.[59]

In June 2012, thieves stole luxury cars belonging to Edelsten, worth more than $1.4 million. Among them was a Lamborghini Aventador worth approximately $800,000 – one of only a handful of Aventadors in Australia.[60]

In January 2014, it was announced that Edelsten's marriage to Brynne was over. Brynne cited "her publicity-obsessed husband for a reported dalliance with another woman more than 18 months ago".[61]

In July 2014 it was announced that Edelsten intended to marry Gabi Grecko, who is 46 years younger.[62] Edelsten and Grecko married on 11 June 2015.[63] The couple however reportedly split after just four months, they are soon to be divorced.[64]

Philanthropy

Edelsten requested that guests attending his 2009 wedding not give wedding presents, but donate to the Great Expectations Foundation, a non-profit organisation he founded in 2008, which provides funds to charities including beyondblue, the Royal Children's Hospital and Magen David Adom.[57] More than three years on, many of the charities once linked to Great Expectations had received no funds and, in at least one case, took moves to sever ties with Edelsten's foundation. A Fairfax Media investigation found that at least three charitable and not-for-profit groups had either never received money from Edelsten's foundation, or were unaware their names were being used to fund-raise from the public and wedding guests. They include the Royal Children's Hospital, the Lighthouse Foundation and the American Women's Auxiliary.[65]

References

  1. ↑ Bankrupt Geoffrey Edelsten still leading life of luxury thanks to his mum
  2. ↑ "Dr Geoffrey Edelsten has a 'secret son'". NewsComAu.
  3. 1 2 "Edelsten tries to re-enter the ranks of doctors". The Age. Melbourne. 25 November 2003. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  4. ↑ Brown, Alex (1 July 2004). "A few regrets but Edelsten is still true Blue". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  5. ↑ Hornery, Andrew (2 February 2008). "Life & Style – Web of confusion". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 March 2008.
  6. 1 2 "Four Corners timelines for 1984". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 McClymont, Kate (12 September 2009). "'Tell him I love my husband, but not that much'". smh.com.au. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "50 most influential people: 2005" (PDF). Australian Doctor. 2005. p. 12. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
  9. 1 2 Hawthorne, Mark (11 February 2010). "Edelsten at the top of UBS shopping list". SMH. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  10. ↑ "Geoffrey Edelsten preparing to sell his $200 million chain of GP clinics". news.com.au. 13 July 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
  11. 1 2 Butler, Ben (4 January 2011). "Mystery still surrounds Allied accounts". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
  12. 1 2 Sydney Swans- A Brief History – official website
  13. 1 2 "CAM-PACT — Melbourne 1967–1970". MILESAGO: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964–1975 — Groups and Solo artists. Duncan Kimball. 9 May 2008. Retrieved 16 June 2008.
  14. ↑ Laird, Ross. "The Sixties:Australian rock & pop recordings, 1964–1969 (page 167)" (PDF). National Film and Sound Archive. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
  15. ↑ "The Go!!/Scope Labels – Volume Two". Australian Television Memorabilia Guide. 2003. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
  16. ↑ "Pastoral Symphony". Australian Rock Database. Magnus Holmgren. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Medical Tribunal of New South Wales (31 July 2001). "No 40018/00 – In the matter of Geoffrey Walter Edelsten – Reasons for Determination" (PDF). Retrieved 12 September 2009.
  18. 1 2 3 Sampson, John (October 1985). "The Business Side of Pathology" (PDF). The Sydney Morning Herald (page 4).
  19. ↑ Wynne, J Michael (November 2005). "Tom Wenkart and Macquarie Health – Review of 1971 origin with Dr Edelsten". Corporate Medicine Web Site. University of Wollongong. Archived from the original on 8 March 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
  20. 1 2 3 McIlraith, Shaun (July 1971). "Medical computer company agrees to liquidator" (PDF). Sydney Morning Herald. p. 8).
  21. 1 2 "Medical network now being extended" (PDF). Sydney Morning Herald. 13 August 1971. p. 28).
  22. ↑ "Chris Masters". Four Corners celebrates 40 years — in 90 minutes: Interviews. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
  23. ↑ Smith, Paul (26 June 2008). "What's in a name? 'Superclinic' stoush". Australian Doctor. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  24. ↑ Walton, Merrilyn (1998). The Trouble With Medicine. Allen & Unwin. p. 224. ISBN 1-86448-471-3.
  25. ↑ Abouchar, Dom (July 1986). "Edelsten and the Sharks". Rugby League Week. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  26. ↑ "The Edelsten-Sharks Marriage". Retrieved 22 March 2008.
  27. ↑ Lane, Samantha (14 March 2013), Blues snub Docklands in push to make MCG home, Melbourne: The Age, retrieved 10 April 2013
  28. ↑ De Bolfo, Tony (15 March 2013), 2013 Carlton Hall of Fame, Carlton Football Club, retrieved 10 April 2013
  29. ↑ "Edelsten determined to take up practice again". Australian Doctor. 17 October 2003. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
  30. ↑ "Geoffrey Edelsten – Reasons for Determination" (PDF). Medical Tribunal of New South Wales. 29 January 2004. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  31. ↑ R v Edelsten [1990] 51 A Crim R 397. (see copy of volume index and first page)
  32. ↑ Grabosky, Peter N.; Russell G. Smith (1998). Crime in the Digital Age: Controlling Telecommunications and Cyberspace. Transaction Publishing. p. 27. ISBN 0-7658-0458-1. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
  33. ↑ Heath, Sally (17 August 1991). "Flannery evidence proves wrongful conviction: Edelsten" (PDF). The Age.
  34. ↑ "Hansard Transcript, Legislative Council". Parliament of NSW. 27 October 1992. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
  35. ↑ "The doctor takes a wife - again". The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 November 2009.
  36. ↑ O'Brien, Kerry (5 March 2001), DNA and paternity case may set mammoth precedent, 7.30 Report, retrieved 27 February 2013
  37. 1 2 Lamont, Leonie (25 November 2003). "Repentant Edelsten wants to practise again". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax. Retrieved 24 March 2008.
  38. ↑ "Edelsten appeals to NSW Medical Tribunal". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 24 November 2003. Retrieved 16 June 2008.
  39. ↑ "Former doctor to remain struck off medical register". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 29 January 2004. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
  40. ↑ Anastasopoulos, Christina (13 February 2004). "Edelsten still on the outer". News Briefs. Australian Doctor. Mr Edelsten represented himself at the hearing, where he admitted he lied to the tribunal at his last attempt to be re-registered in 2001.
    Tribunal deputy chairman John Maguire said while Mr Edelsten might have spent the past 16 years acquiring an impressive array of degrees and doing charitable work, his character was flawed. He was banned from re-applying for re-registration for four years.
  41. ↑ Allied Medical Group: Clinic Locations, Allied Medical Group, retrieved 28 February 2013
  42. ↑ Allied Medical Group: About Us, Allied Medical Group, retrieved 28 February 2013
  43. ↑ McArthur, Grant (26 June 2008). "Superclinic doubt, says Geoffrey Edelsten". Herald Sun.
  44. ↑ Lynch, Jared (8 July 2011), $200m is just what the former doctor ordered, Melbourne: The Age, retrieved 28 February 2013
  45. ↑ Ben Butler and Chris Vedelago. "Geoffrey Edelsten files for US bankruptcy". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  46. ↑ "Inside the crazy world of Geoffrey Edelsten and Gabi Grecko". news.com.au. 14 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  47. ↑ Hoyer, Melissa (20 July 2015). "Gabi Grecko, Geoffrey Edelsten, Mel Greig sign up for Celebrity Apprentice". news.com.au. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  48. 1 2 "VFL 1985: Geoff Edelsten buys Sydney Swans" (YouTube video – still from 2 minutes 30 seconds into clip). Seven's Big League. Seven Network; clip republished on YouTube. 1985. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  49. ↑ Craven, Ian. Australian Popular Culture. Cambridge University Press. p. 58. ISBN 0-521-46667-9.
  50. ↑ Hinds, Richard (20 September 2003). "The stripes earned through hype and hardship". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 August 2008.
  51. ↑ "Sydney goes for the doctor". The Herald Sun. 23 May 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2008.
  52. ↑ Gorman, Sean (2005). Brotherboys: The Story of Jim and Phillip Krakouer. Allen & Unwin. p. 178. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  53. ↑ Hinds, Richard (19 May 2006). "A compelling history of hardship and helicopters". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 August 2008.
  54. ↑ Byrne, Fiona (2 January 2009). "Geoffrey Edelsten to wed Brynne Groden". Herald Sun. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
  55. ↑ "Doc lands busty party girl". The Daily Telegraph. 6 January 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
  56. ↑ Disgraced Doctor Geoffrey Edelsten's Wedding For Sale, Daily Telegraph
  57. 1 2 Brooks, Karen (1 December 2009). "Trivial pursuits of bedroom antics". news.com.au. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  58. ↑ "'Sack of potatoes' slur gets Edelsten fuming about DWTS judges over boogieing bride Brynne". smh.com.au. 9 May 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  59. ↑ "Brynne Edelsten off Dancing with the Stars". news.com.au. 12 June 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
  60. ↑ "Not the Aventador! Edelsten's cars stolen". The Age. 7 June 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  61. ↑ Andrew Hornery (2011-11-24). "Brynne Edelsten ends marriage to Geoffrey". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  62. ↑ "Geoffrey Edelsten and Gabi Grecko to marry". smh.com.au. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  63. ↑ "Gabi Grecko marries Geoffrey Edelsten in Vegas style wedding...in Melbourne". smh.com.au. 12 June 2015.
  64. ↑ Gabi Grecko insists she husband Geoffrey Edelsten are getting divorced | Daily Mail Online
  65. ↑ Vedelago, Chris. "Sydney Morning Herald". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
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