High profile CEO Richard Cousins and his family were killed along with the pilot in the New Year’s Eve seaplane crash near Sydney, Australia.
Authorities have confirmed 58-year-old Mr Cousins, his fiancee Emma Bowden, 48, her daughter Heather Bowden-Page, 11, and his two sons William Cousins, 25, and Edward Cousins, 23, and pilot Gareth Morgan, 44, all perished when the Sydney Seaplanes charter went down in the Hawkesbury River on Sunday afternoon.
Mr Cousins was the CEO of UK catering company Compass, the world’s largest food services company. Formerly, he had served on the board of British supermarket giant Tesco. He had been named by the Harvard Business Review as one of the world’s best-performing CEOs. He was due to stand down as Compass CEO in March.
Mr Cousins was also reportedly a cricket fanatic and enjoying being in Australia for the Ashes.
An uncle to the two brothers, Ian Thorpe, has spoken of the grief over the family’s shock loss.
“They were just generally so kind and that to me was the most outstanding thing,” Mr Thorpe said of his nephews, Edward and William, according to the ABC.
“It’s the kindness that I liked about them; they were wonderful fellas, wonderful.
“I’m immensely proud. I’m struggling to believe that they’re not with us anymore.”
TOP IMAGE: Richard Cousines (supplied)