For the third year in a row, one man has bought three of the homes available at auction on The Block, and this year he literally saved the day.
Eccentric billionaire Wallis emerged from this year’s final as the sole buyer of the auctions, with the two houses he didn’t buy being passed on in full.
This does raise the question of success The Block The finals would be without Wallis’ penchant for spending big on camera.
Last year, Wallis bought Mitch and Mark’s Block winning house, as well as Tanya and Vito and Kirsty and Jesse, for a combined total of $12.2 million, and in the 2020 season she bought three apartments for just under $12 million.
Wallis gave contestants Omar and Oz, first in this year’s auction, the biggest win of blog story when he bought his Gisborne property for $5,666,666.66. Taking into account its $100,000 in prizes, it gave the friends of Sydney a profit of more than $1.68 million.
Wallis’ unusual antics during the auction included his usual style of dollars-and-cents bidding, and pausing the auction at one point to converse privately: with his dog.
And in typical nonchalant Danny Wallis fashion, he later admitted he probably overpaid for the property.
“I probably overspent at the first auction, but I was surprised to buy two more houses at what I think was a bargain price, so I guess it all evened out in the end at least for me,” he said.
He also bought Tom and Sarah-Jane’s property for $4,100,000.99, giving them a profit of just $20,000, and Rachel and Ryan’s for $4,249,999.50, making them a distant second team of this season with a profit of $169,000.50.
So who is this man who, at this point, seems to be standing alone blog floating auctions?
How Wallis Became Rich
Wallis has an estimated net worth of $120 million. Starting his career at ANZ, in 1991 he founded IT services management company DWS, which has since grown to offices in Australia and New Zealand. Wallis is the Managing Director and CEO.
And a relatively recent purchase may explain why Wallis Block’s spending has been excessive in recent years: In September 2020, Indian tech giant HCL Technologies bought DWS for $126 million in cash.
A long history of the blog
Wallis appeared for the first time The Block in 2012, where he bought one of the South Melbourne houses with the memorable winning bid of $1,400,001.01.
His confusing and erratic offerings, and his habit of using camera time to promote his businesses, initially made him a divisive figure among blog spectators and those trying to organize the auctions, with one auctioneer even calling it a “nuisance”.
But in recent years, as Wallis has opened his portfolio The Block More and more, he has been accepted into the fold as a kind of recurring guest star. He appeared throughout this season of the show, doing a challenge and was openly courted by contestants in the hope that he would buy their houses. For at least three of them, it paid off.
A very relaxed home buyer
Wallis dropped a bombshell in a radio interview after 2020 blog purchase, revealing that he hadn’t even fully inspected the three apartments he bought.
“Actually, I don’t like going to a lot of the houses I buy, because I don’t like to see how people live. I just buy them outside,” he said.
He also revealed that he only watches the Sunday night revelations The Blockand he doesn’t bother with the other episodes, hinting that he’s not a big fan of the show.
“I don’t watch it, I find it kind of…yeah. I just watch the revelations,” he said.
And while his exhibition auction antics may annoy those he’s bidding against, there’s a charitable side to his big spending ways. Wallis has given several of his own in the past blog purchases for use as homes for children’s charities.
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