Why John Ilhan’s Stores were Named Crazy John’s

John Ilhan was the owner of Crazy John’s, one of the biggest mobile phone companies in Australia. His story was a perfect rags-to-riches story having been born from a poor migrant family.

Ilhan’s real name was Mustafa Ilhan. He was born in Yozgat, Turkey in 1965. His family transferred to Australia when he was five. He spent his boyhood Broadmeadows, Victoria, Australia. He was often bullied by racists in his school.

Ilhan’s fortune started when he opened Mobileworld in 1991, the first of his mobile phone stores. The store was located in Brunswick. He made high risk deals which included selling his products at $1 when his competitors sell the same phones at $200. This unconventional marketing strategy was the reason for the name change from Mobileworld to Crazy John’s.

Ilhan was a hard worker. He worked long hours to become one of the most successful phone retailers in the world. From the humble Mobileworld store in Victoria, he had more than 120 stores which employed about 600 workers in Australia.

His entrepreneurial skills gave him a fortune of more than $300 million. BRW magazine listed him as one of the richest men in Australia before he turned 40. When he was first listed in 2007, he was at number 126.

Ilhan was also into charities. He opened Ilhan Food Allergy Foundation. His daughter Jaida has been suffering from allergic reactions to peanuts. He started with a donation of $1 million.

At the prime of his entrepreneurial success, John died at 42 on October 23, 2007. It was suspected that he died of heart attack while he was just walking from his home in Brighton Victoria.

The Islamic Council of Australia esteemed him as one of the most loved person in the business community and has provided inspiration to many Muslims in Australia.