The billionaire who’s a winner from David Jones’ collapse

November 5, 2026 — 3:17pm

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No one will be celebrating the collapse of a retailer with the storied history of David Jones. However, for rival Myer and its billionaire backer, Solomon Lew, it will certainly provide more breathing room as they seek an answer to what is now a very topical question: Do department store operators have a future?

Myer will endure some short-term pain as the corporate undertakers now running David Jones raise money for the cash-strapped group any way they can with massive discounts on any goods the retailer can sell.

But Myer’s share price tells the story of who is going to win this round of their ongoing fight. Its shares were up as much as 9.8 per cent on Thursday, and are up nearly 50 per cent on the September low when it became evident that David Jones’ former private equity owners, Anchorage Capital, were running out of options.

The biggest financial relief will come from shopping centres housing both Myer and David Jones stores. If the nearby........

© The Sydney Morning Herald