'Australia's Warren Buffett', a father-of-four, comes out as gay after having a nervous breakdown and quitting

By SARAH BROOKES - SENIOR REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 13:04, 20 April 2026 | Updated: 22:05, 20 April 2026 A former rock star Australian financier who disappeared from public life after the implosion of Magellan Financial Group has resurfaced - and revealed he is gay. Billionaire fund manager Hamish Douglass had cultivated an image as Australia's very own Warren Buffett, but then spent four years in exile after Magellan spectacularly collapsed. He abruptly vanished from the limelight in February 2022, following a brutal two years for the flagship global equities fund, and until now very little had been publicly said about what had driven the disappearance.  Douglass recently laid bare the private upheaval behind the public headlines during an hour‑long interview with journalist Joe Aston at their mutual friend James Packer's Sydney apartment on the Rampart Talks podcast.  He spoke of the profound strain of telling his four children he was gay, his complete mental breakdown that left him suicidal and the end of his 27-year marriage to former wife Alexandra during the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2021.  The news of his separation hit the headlines a day after Magellan chief executive Brett Cairn resigned, as the investment giant he co‑founded, with more than $100billion under management, plunged into turmoil. Before the sudden rift, the pair had worked closely for 14 years.  Among many rumours that had circulated was an allegation, reported by a journalist, that Mr Cairn had quit abruptly at Magellan's Martin Place headquarters out of moral disgust over claims around an alleged affair Douglass had. Hamish Douglass (right) and his ex-wife Alex (third left) have four children together Brett Cairns (left) abruptly quit Magellan where he and Hamish Douglass (right) had made a $116billion success, sparking a share plunge As the personal upheaval unfolded behind the scenes, the impact soon became visible at the company level.  On February 7, 2022 Magellan announced Douglass was taking indefinite medical leave.  Douglass said at the time he was suicidal and felt trapped, overwhelmed by concern for his employees, shareholders and family, and unable to see any near‑term way to resolve the situation.   'Many people at Magellan couldn't understand because they said oh, I saw Hamish the week before he spoke at a conference. He looked fine. I wasn't fine. 'I was crying in a corner, I just couldn't do this anymore. I then had a complete mental breakdown.' It was his wife who found Douglass crying in the corner of a hotel room and contacted deputy chairman Hamish McLennan. On February 7, 2022, an announcement was released to the ASX that Douglass was stepping down for medical reasons. 'Had my wife not picked me up at that moment...I don't think I'd be here today,' he said. Before the split with his wife Alex (left), Hamish Douglass (centre) and Brett Cairns enjoyed a profitable partnership and owned luxury homes in Sydney and the Southern Highlands It took nearly three years before he felt ready to face the world again after being diagnosed with an extreme case of PTSD. Douglass said he remains close to his ex‑wife and that their separation, sparked by the realisation he is gay, was friendly. 'My father was gay but he remained married to my mother, but he lived a secret life,' he said.  'And I kind of resented that. I didn't resent the fact that he was gay, but I resented that he was living a life that was secret from the family, and I didn't want to live a life behind the scenes.' Douglass said he had never been with a man before he split with his wife. 'I'd separated with my wife, but I wanted to find out who I was, and I wanted to do it openly and honestly with my family.' He said telling his children that their parents were getting a divorce was difficult, but explaining that it was because he is gay was especially hard.  'I still had one kid at school, and that was a very, very difficult thing to go through, and it was traumatic for my wife as well,' he said. 'My children were remarkable. Their reaction towards me and their support for their mum was absolutely extraordinary.'  As for his company's financial implosion, he remains philosophical. Douglass, who once took to the stage dressed as Steve Jobs, admitted he got carried away with being a pseudo-virologist during the pandemic and that he lost sight of the central banks and governments pumping billions into their economies. 'I think that was one of my mistakes… We had a panel of world-renowned experts who were, wrongly, deeply sceptical of the effectiveness of what the vaccines were going to come up with, and I became infatuated with the expert advice around that,' he said. 'It was what caused me to miss the macroeconomic side, which is, of course, what the central banks were doing and what the fiscal authorities were doing. 'Every other time we would have backed the fiscal and monetary side of things solving markets.' Despite everything, including losing $1billion of his fortune, Douglass remains very optimistic. 'I've got a wonderful new partner. I've still got a great relationship with my ex-wife,' he said. 'I'm lucky. I'm still financially comfortable.' The comments below have been moderated in advance. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. 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