Cav. Simon Mordant AO is a leading corporate adviser and arts philanthropist whose career spans global finance, cultural leadership, and higher education.

A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Mordant has advised corporations and governments on capital markets strategy and mergers and acquisitions since 1984. He is Vice Chairman and founder of Luminis Partners, after co-founding Caliburn Partnership (sold to Greenhill in 2010) and earlier serving as Head of Corporate Finance at BZW Australia and ABN AMRO.

A passionate collector and benefactor of contemporary art, Mordant chaired the Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation beginning in 2007, helping re-establish it to raise $53 million for the museum’s redevelopment. He chaired the MCA Australia Board for ten years through 2020 and now serves as its Inaugural International Ambassador. His current cultural and civic roles include Vice Chair of MoMA PS1 (New York), Vice Chair of the Tate International Council, member of the International Council of The Museum of Modern Art (New York), Trustee on the Council of Marlborough College (UK), Director of the Garvan Research Foundation, Director of Forward Thinking, Chair of Lendlease’s Art Advisory Panel for Barangaroo, member of The Centre for Independent Studies Board, Sydney Committee member of Human Rights Watch, and member of the National Sawdust Global Strategic Council.

His previous appointments include Trustee of the American Academy in Rome, Australian Commissioner for the 2013 and 2015 Venice Biennale, Director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (2012–2017), Deputy President of the Takeovers Panel (2000–2010), and board roles with Opera Australia, Sydney Theatre Company, Bundanon Trust, the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, the Wharton Executive Board for Asia, The Ethics Centre Board, and Chair of the NSW Visual Arts Board.

Mordant was appointed Honorary Consul for the Republic of San Marino in Australia in 2021. In 2020 he was knighted by Italy, receiving the Order of the Star of Italy (Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia), and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to the visual arts, emerging artists, and philanthropy. He also serves as Enterprise Professor at the University of Melbourne’s Centre of Visual Arts and as an Adjunct Professor at Università Cattolica in Milan and Rome. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2012 for services to the arts and the cultural environment, and in 2010 he and his wife Catriona received the Australia Business Arts Foundation’s Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Leadership Award.