Terry Snow

Terrence Mark Snow (b. 1943 in Canberra is an Australian businessman, accountant, entrepreneur, and philanthropist based in Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory.

Terry Snow is the grandson of Canberra’s first general store owner.

His parents owned a hotel in Queanbeyan and the young Snow attended Canberra Grammar School, initially as a boarder.

He has subsequently supported the school through a number of significant philanthropic gifts.

Snow is Executive Chairman of the Capital Airport Group, the company which owns the lease for the land which contains Canberra Airport and Brindabella Business Park.

Along with his brother, George, Snow established the Snow Foundation in 1991.

, the Foundation held over A$40 million in net assets, with a focus on supporting regional charities and organisations helping needy people.

Snow's Capital Airport Group acquired the 99-year lease from the Australian Government in 1998 for A$65 million.

The site includes Fairbairn Business Park, formerly an air force base, as well as the Majura Business Park and the Majura Park Shopping Centre.

Snow has been responsible for an A$250 million development of a new terminal for Canberra Airport including an “extravagant” international interior design-winning terminal.

In 2005 he published the "Living City" proposal for the redevelopment of Canberra.

This caused some controversy, especially after the proposal's rebuff by the ACT Government and combined with his provocative assertion that Canberra is a "dead-set boring" city that had been "going backwards since self-government".

In 2013, Snow was ranked by Forbes Asia as Australia's 39th richest person, with a net worth of US$755 million.

In 2016 Snow predicted that in the next 10–15 years, the Snow Foundation endowment will “be over $100 million and that will let us do three times what we're doing now".

Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways were the first two international air carriers to Canberra; that arrived at Canberra international Airport in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

Snow developed Brindabella Business Park.

One of these landmark buildings is 8 Brindabella Circuit, which was awarded 5 stars under the Green Star rating system of the Green Building Council of Australia – the first and highest rating awarded in Australia at the time.

Snow's attempt to develop land around the Canberra Airport was described by Patrick Troy as controversial.

Specific criticisms include that it removes jobs from Civic, diminishes Canberra's town centre, and causes unnecessary congestion on roads originally designed exclusively for airport traffic.

The development of Brindabella Business Park has attracted international corporates including KPMG, Deloitte and Raytheon as well as the Department of Home Affairs and has been recognised as an emerging aerotropolis that has helped to grow the Canberra workforce.

Snow’s nearby Majura Park Shopping Centre attracted international retailers Costco, Aldi and Ikea, with nationwide retailers Bunnings Warehouse, Woolworths and Dan Murphy's.

Capital Property Group also developed Constitution Place, a commercial and hospitality complex adjacent to the Canberra Theatre and the ACT Legislative Assembly in Canberra's central business district, which houses a five-storey government office building and a 12-level commercial building that is Canberra’s first WELL-rated building with a hotel and dining spaces.

In 2017, Snow opened Willinga Park, an award-winning, 2000 acre, equine facility in Bawley Point.

Willinga Park was developed to include an equestrian centre with three Olympic-sized dressage arenas, showjumping fields and a campdrafting arena.

In 2017, the Australian National Portrait Gallery commissioned Snow's portrait in recognition of the contribution he has made to the growth of Canberra and his work as a philanthropist.

In a media interview, Snow said he was proud to call Canberra home: "I was born in Canberra, that's quite something for someone who is 74. I love the place; it's been a big part of my life, a very happy life. I had a wonderful time growing up in Canberra, raising a family here, developing a business career. Some people say Canberra is an economic backwater but I've proven that wrong. It's a great little city."

The Snow family is a strong supporter of, and has provided in-kind contributors to, the Marriage Equality lobby group Australians for Equality.

Snow's son, Tom, is the executive Co-Chair, with Tiernan Brady as the Director of Australians for Equality.

Snow holds a commercial pilot licence for fixed wing aircraft and rotary wing aircraft and has a command instrument rating.

In 2018, Snow sponsored the largest campdrafting purse in Australian history at the World Championship Gold Buckle Campdraft centre.

Pete Comiskey, a Queensland campdrafting rider, won the $100,000 purse after only four rounds lasting four minutes.

Willinga Park also includes native gardens and a sculpture walk.

It has been referred to as “Jurassic Park with horses.” In June 2018, it was announced that Sculpture on the Clyde, an outdoor art exhibition usually held on the Clyde River in would be moved to Willinga Park to avoid being cancelled after the Eurobodalla Shire Council and event organisers were unable to come to an agreement on event logistics, insurance and security.

During the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, Willinga Park and its well constructed and defended fire breaks were credited as providing a much-needed fire break that saved Bawley Point from destructive fires.

Snow is also the owner of Capital Property Group and Capital Estate Developments which is responsible for the development of, a master-planned community in the Molonglo Valley and the first Australian suburb to have a minimum requirement for solar power generation on every home.

It is also the first suburb in Australia to commit to the Homes for Homes initiative which donates 0.1 per cent of the sale price of all properties to projects that address the shortage of social and affordable housing in the ACT.

Snow is married to Ginette, and they have four adult children: Stephen Byron, Georgina Byron, Tom Snow and Scarlet Snow.

Stephen is managing director of Capital Airport Group and Canberra Airport.

Snow is often accompanied by his dogs, which attend meetings with him at his airport offices.

By 2019, his wealth was estimated by Forbes Asia at US$1.2 billion.