Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest is an Australian businessman, philanthropist and entrepreneur, widely considered one of the country’s greatest change agents.

Why you should listen

As founder and chairman of Fortescue Metals Group, Andrew Forrest has led the company from inception to a market capitalisation of more than AU$30billion. In 2001, he co-founded Minderoo Foundation with his wife Nicola, and he's since donated more than AU$1.5 billion to its core initiatives and more than 280 causes around the world. Never daunted by the scale of a challenge, Forrest devotes his relentless energy to tackling some of the world’s greatest problems, including Indigenous disparity, modern slavery and cancer.

But it is Forrest's most recent pursuit -- a PhD in Marine Ecology -- that led him to the TED stage. Driven by a lifelong love for the oceans, Forrest studied marine life and, along the way, encountered the destructive impacts of ocean plastic pollution, which he is now striving to apprehend. 

Andrew Forrest’s TED talk

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