If you’re a longtime fan of The Block, you are likely familiar with Danny Wallis.
The businessman turned philanthropist has become known for bidding in peculiar increments and paying well about the median suburb price come auction day, simply because he can.
Scott Cam has previously referred to him as certified “The Block royalty”, but who exactly is Danny Wallis, and why does he love buying properties featured on the renovation reality show?
Who is Danny Wallis?
Dubbed “The man who bought The Block”, by The Block Shop blog Insider Style, Danny bid on all five of The Block houses in 2020, eventually walking away with three of the five properties at a total cost of $11.8 million.
He then spent a total of $12.2 million at the 2021 auction and a whopping $14 million at the 2022 auction – including his record-breaking bid of $5,666,666.66 on house five.
But in 2023, despite placing bids on both Steph and Gian and Eliza and Liberty’s properties, he ended up walking away empty-handed after being outbid by Adrian Portelli.
Despite his hopes of purchasing “one or two” houses in 2024, history repeated itself this year and he was outbid on Kristian and Mimi’s and Courtney and Grant’s auctions – both of which ended up in the hands of Adrian.
When asked why he stopped bidding, the eccentric businessman told The Block producers that he didn’t “compete against billionaires”, adding that with Adrian in the mix, the auctions were “weird.”
What does Danny Wallis do for a living?
Danny Wallis is an IT entrepreneur who founded the information communications technology services company DWS Limited in 1991.
He reportedly has a net worth of over $120m after selling DWS Limited in September 2020 to an Indian tech giant HCL Technologies for $126 million.
What does Danny Wallis do with the houses he purchases on The Block?
Danny’s track record in the business world may be impressive, but the entrepreneur has never lost sight of the importance of giving.
In fact, many of the homes he has purchased on The Block over the years have been donated to charities, including Ronald McDonald House and My Room Children’s Cancer Charity.
