John Singleton (Australian entrepreneur)

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John Singleton AM is an Australian entrepreneur. He was born in Sydney in 1942 and educated at Fort Street High School, New South Wales.

Singleton, known as "Singo", commenced a career in advertising in the 1960s before founding with others the Sydney agency Strauss, Palmer and Singleton, McAllan (SPASM) which was later sold to the US Doyle Dane Bernbach network in the early 1970s. After leaving that network Singleton started up again on his own with "John Singleton Advertising" in the 1980s. This agency listed publicy and grew to become the STW Group Ltd which now owns over 50 Australian marketing and advertising businesses including the Singleton Ogilvy & Mather ad agency and an interest in J Walter Thompson's Australian operations.

Today Singleton is listed in Business Review Weekly's Rich 200 list, and his investments range from radio (being the majority shareholder in the Macquarie Radio Network, which comprises radio stations 2CH and 2GB ), horse-racing training and publishing.

He is well known as a larrikin in Australia for his love of good times, evident in him buying drinks for the entire Rosehill racecourse in Sydney after his horse won the prestigious Golden Slipper.

He was Executive Creative Director on the Qantas commercials featuring a children's choir singing I Still Call Australia Home all over the globe; famously Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon called Singleton on Christmas Day 1997 to propose the idea having seen the choir on Carols by Candlelight the night before.

Singleton became a Member of the Order of Australia in 1994 for his fundraising activities for charities [1]. He is now married to Julie Martin. He has seven children from six marriages.

Along with good friends and businessmen Gerry Harvey and Rob Ferguson, Singleton part owns Gold Coast-based thoroughbred sales company Magic Millions. Singleton is also firm friends with his radio employees Alan Jones and Ray Hadley.

He was also responsible for bringing Paris Hilton into Sydney for New Year's Eve in 2006 to promote the new low-carb beer 'Bondi Blonde'.