Who Is Larry Kestelman? The Soviet-Born Australian Who Built Dodo and Owns the NBL

The Builders  |  Olam.business

Larry Kestelman (born 1966, Odessa, Ukraine) emigrated to Australia as part of the Soviet Jewish exodus, co-founded the Australian internet provider Dodo in 2001, sold it to M2 Group for A$204 million in 2013, and in 2015 acquired 51% of Australia's National Basketball League — a stake he has since increased to roughly 94%. He is one of the more unusual diaspora-Jewish builders of his generation: tech founder, property developer, and sole owner of a national professional sports league.

The Australian Financial Review Rich List placed his net worth at A$929 million in 2025. His holding entity is LK Group, where he serves as Executive Group Chairman. His son Justin Kestelman now runs day-to-day operations across multiple LK Group businesses.

Snapshot

The Business Story

The Kestelman family left Odessa when Larry was 11. They spent six months in Ostia, Italy — a standard transit waypoint for Soviet Jewish refugees of that era — before securing Australian visas. The family settled in Melbourne's southeastern suburbs. Larry's father retrained as an engineer; his mother as a doctor. Larry struggled academically at Murrumbeena High School, focused more on social standing than grades. He studied accounting at Victoria College.

The first chapter of his commercial career was Melbourne residential property. He started by buying and subdividing a single block of land in Caulfield South, moved into townhouse development, then into larger apartment buildings in Footscray and Southbank. The property business gave him the cash base for the telco move.

In September 2001, Kestelman co-founded Dodo Services with his cousin Michael Slepoy and Russian-born Igor Gilenko. The original equity split was 49% Kestelman, 28% Slepoy, 23% Gilenko. Dodo's positioning was simple: fixed-price plans, unlimited downloads, and clean customer billing in a market crowded with confusing pricing structures from the major Australian telcos. The model scaled fast. By 2005, Dodo claimed A$80 million in revenue and rejected a takeover offer from Telstra. In 2003 the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found Kestelman and fellow Dodo director Mark Baranov to have knowingly engaged in misleading conduct over advertising; the company was ordered to compensate customers and run a trade-practices compliance program but was not fined.

In November 2013, Kestelman and his co-founders sold Dodo to M2 Group for A$203.9 million. The exit funded the next chapter.

The Capitol Grand project — launched in 2015 — was a 50-storey residential tower on the corner of Toorak Road and Chapel Street in South Yarra, reportedly the tallest building in Melbourne outside the central business district. Kestelman retained the penthouse for himself. The project was the headline asset of LK Group's property division.

The basketball chapter is the unusual one. Kestelman bought a sponsorship stake in the Melbourne Tigers NBL franchise in 2010, then bought the club outright and rebranded it as Melbourne United, which he ran with his son Justin. In 2015, with the National Basketball League in financial distress, broken television relationships, and franchise insolvencies, Kestelman bought a 51% stake in the entire league for around A$7 million. He immediately rebuilt the brand, negotiated new television deals with Channel Nine and Fox Sports, revived the Brisbane Bullets franchise, and added expansion teams including the South East Melbourne Phoenix and the Tasmania JackJumpers. By the late 2010s the NBL was an entirely different business than the league he bought. Kestelman has since taken his ownership stake to roughly 94%.

Why Kestelman Matters in the Diaspora Economy

Kestelman is the rare diaspora Jewish operator whose biographical arc maps directly onto the post-Soviet emigration wave of the late 1970s. Tens of thousands of Soviet Jewish families took the same Vienna-Ostia-Australia or Vienna-Ostia-Israel path. The vast majority found work, raised families, and stayed inside the middle-class layer. Kestelman is one of the small number whose post-migration arc ended at the AFR Rich List.

He is also a sports-economy operator in a category — owning an entire national professional sports league outright — that has almost no Jewish-builder precedent globally. The NBL is structurally closer to the United States MLS or NWSL than to any European football competition, but Kestelman owns 94% of it. The ownership concentration is anomalous and consequential. He has used the sole-owner position to push the league into international friendlies with NBA clubs, broadcast deals into Asia, and the launch of the Hungry Jack's-sponsored era of NBL marketing.

Kestelman's Key Holdings

• LK Group — Executive Group Chairman; family office and holding entity
• National Basketball League (NBL) — ~94% ownership; sole controlling owner of an Australian national professional sports league
• Melbourne United — NBL franchise; original 2010 entry into the basketball economy
• Brisbane Bullets — relaunched NBL franchise, NBL-owned
• LK Property Group — diversified Melbourne real estate including the Capitol Grand 50-storey tower
• Past holdings exited: Dodo Services (sold to M2 Group, November 2013, A$203.9M)

Kestelman's Legacy and Influence

Three legacies, distinct.

The first is Dodo. The brand became one of the iconic challenger-telco names in Australian retail telecommunications history, restructured the pricing layer in a market that had been opaque, and produced the cleanest large Australian telco exit of the early 2010s. The M2 transaction in November 2013 set a benchmark valuation multiple for Australian internet-service-provider deals.

The second is Melbourne property. Capitol Grand reshaped the South Yarra skyline. The broader LK Property Group portfolio runs across the major Melbourne inner-suburb development corridors.

The third is the NBL. The category — Australian professional basketball — was operationally bankrupt in 2015. By 2025–2026, the NBL is the dominant winter sports broadcast property after the AFL, with international fixtures against NBA clubs, the launch of new franchises across the Australian eastern seaboard, and the entry of NBA-affiliated talent. Kestelman bought a bankrupt sports league for A$7 million and built it into a meaningful national sports asset inside a decade.

Why Kestelman Matters Now

In 2025–2026, with the NBL preparing the next round of broadcast-rights negotiations and the league's commercial profile at its highest point ever, Kestelman's strategic options are widening. The NBL ownership structure gives him a unique position in the global Jewish sports-economy: sole owner of a national league, with full strategic control of broadcast, expansion, and franchising decisions.

The Capitol Grand model — premium residential development with the developer's family retaining the penthouse — has become a template inside Melbourne property circles. The next generation of LK Group projects, run increasingly by Justin Kestelman, are positioned for the next phase of Melbourne residential development.

FAQ

Who is Larry Kestelman?
Larry Kestelman (born 1966, Odessa, Ukraine) is an Australian-Jewish businessman and sports league owner. He co-founded Dodo Services in 2001, sold it to M2 Group in November 2013 for A$203.9 million, and in 2015 bought a controlling stake in Australia's National Basketball League, which he has since grown to approximately 94% ownership. The AFR Rich List 2025 placed his net worth at A$929 million.

How did Larry Kestelman immigrate to Australia?
The Kestelman family emigrated from Odessa in 1977–78 as part of the Soviet Jewish emigration wave. They spent six months in Ostia, Italy, before securing Australian visas. Larry was 11 when he arrived in Melbourne. His father was an electrical engineer; his mother a gynaecologist.

What was Dodo Services?
Dodo was an Australian internet and telecommunications provider co-founded by Larry Kestelman, his cousin Michael Slepoy, and Igor Gilenko in September 2001. Dodo competed against the major Australian telcos on price simplicity — fixed-price plans, unlimited downloads, clean billing. By 2005 it was generating A$80 million in revenue and rejected a Telstra takeover offer. Sold to M2 Group in November 2013 for A$203.9 million.

Does Larry Kestelman own the NBL?
Yes. Kestelman acquired a 51% stake in Australia's National Basketball League in 2015 for approximately A$7 million when the league was in financial distress. He has since increased his ownership to roughly 94%. He serves as the league's owner and Executive Chairman and is responsible for the broadcast deals with Nine Entertainment and Fox Sports, the revival of the Brisbane Bullets, and the launch of new franchises including the South East Melbourne Phoenix and the Tasmania JackJumpers.

What is LK Group?
LK Group is Larry Kestelman's holding company and family office, where he serves as Executive Group Chairman. The group's portfolio spans technology, property development (including the Capitol Grand 50-storey tower in South Yarra), and sports — most notably the NBL.

Is Larry Kestelman's son involved in the business?
Yes. Justin Kestelman has worked across LK Group ventures including Melbourne United and the broader LK Group portfolio, taking on increasing operating responsibility through the mid-2020s.

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The Olam Editorial Team | The Builders / הבונים