Leslie Thiess

Sir Leslie Charles Thiess CBE (8 April 1909 – 25 November 1992) was a construction and mining industry entrepreneur, based in Queensland, Australia. He was one of the founders of Thiess Bros, which later became Thiess Pty Ltd.

With a humble background, and one of eleven children, Thiess founded a contracting firm in 1933, in partnership with Henry Horn. and, in 1971, he was knighted. After a hostile takeover by CSR in 1979, Thiess lost control of his company but, with assistance from two major backers, he bought back the construction division, continuing to develop coal mines and work on major Queensland government contracts, as well as being granted the licence for a casino in Townsville.