Tony Wheeler

Who is Tony Wheeler?

Tony Wheeler, AO, is an English-Australian publishing entrepreneur, businessman, co-founder of the Lonely Planet guidebook company with his wife Maureen Wheeler. BBC Worldwide bought 75% of their share of the company in 2007 and their remaining 25% in February 2011.

Wheeler was born in England in 1946, grew up in Pakistan, but has lived since the 1970s in Melbourne, Australia. He holds an engineering degree from Warwick University and an MBA from London Business School. The couple's net worth is, according to the Sunday Times, $190 million.

In the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours List, Wheeler and wife Maureen were both appointed as Officers of the Order of Australia, each for "distinguished service to business and commerce as a publisher of travel guides, and as a benefactor to a range of Australian arts and aid organisations".