By ARNOLD PICKMERE
Property developer and philanthropist.
Died aged 73.
Sir Arthur Dennis Pitt Williams gave away millions to many organisations. "I've been lucky enough to make money and fortunate enough to give it away," he said.
Born in Margate, England, Williams left school at 14, served a carpentry apprenticeship, and spent three
years in the Royal Navy before arriving in Wellington, aged 20.
He formed Williams Construction Ltd in 1953 and went on to build commercial buildings, blocks of flats and parking buildings.
In 1967 he formed Williams Holdings Ltd and was subsequently responsible for the construction of the Williams Centre (later Plimmer Towers) and more than 20 others.
In 1986 the hard-nosed Williams became suspicious of the property boom that preceded the 1980s crash. He sold his half share in Williams Property Holdings to Smart Group NZ, which went to the wall in the 1987 crash.
He spent heavily on horse breeding at his lavish Ashford Park Stud at Otaki, confessing in 1993 that it had cost him "tens of millions of dollars". He was knighted in 1991.
