Billionaire packaging king Richard Pratt has died, aged 74, following a battle with prostate cancer, a family spokesman has announced.
Visy Packaging spokesman Tony Gray confirmed that Mr Pratt died just after 7pm (AEST) on Tuesday.
Victorian Premier John Brumby said Mr Pratt's family would be offered a state-sponsored memorial service but not a state funeral.
Mr Pratt's death comes only a day after the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions announced all charges against the renowned philanthropist would be dropped because of his failing health.
Mr Pratt leaves behind wife Jeanne, son Anthony, daughters Heloise and Fiona and grandchildren.
In a statement to staff, and given to AAP, Mrs Pratt and son Anthony said Mr Pratt died peacefully at his mansion, Raheen, and praised his role as a "wonderful husband, father and grandfather" and a generous business leader and philanthropist.
"Richard was an inspiration and leader to us all. He packed more into his 74 years than most people could even dream was possible.
"But outside his family, this business was his greatest love. Even in his final hours his main concern was that the business he built should continue to grow.
"His message to you all was to look forward, not backwards, and to keep pushing through these difficult times so that Visy Australasia and Pratt USA can emerge even stronger.
"There could be no better way for us to honour his memory than to stick together, look after our customers, and make the company an even greater success."
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said news of Mr Pratt's death was deeply sad for his family, friends and the business and philanthropic communities.
"Richard Pratt will be deeply missed by many Australians from all walks of life," he said.
"With his wife Jeanne, he was one of Australia's leading philanthropists over a long period of time."
Mr Pratt's generosity helped younger generations fulfil their potential across the nation, Mr Rudd said, in projects like the Northern Territory Football team and the General Sir John Monash Foundation.
Victorian Premier John Brumby said Mr Pratt was "a great Australian success story".
"Richard Pratt came to Australia with very little and built a very successful business," he said.
"Importantly, he put so much back into the community through his extraordinary philanthropy and generosity."
Mr Brumby said the government would discuss with the Pratt family the prospect of holding a memorial service for the tycoon.
But a spokesman later said no state funeral would be offered.
Victorian Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu said Mr Pratt was "a remarkable Australian" and "a man of staggering vision and deep commitment with warmth, enthusiasm and a song for all".
Mr Pratt's beloved Carlton Football Club expressed its sorrow.
He was credited with bringing Carlton back from the brink of ruin in 2007.
Carlton president Stephen Kernahan said Mr Pratt's support for the club stretched more than five decades.
"He's been a great Carlton person for over 50 years," he told reporters.
"He played for Carlton in the under-19s in `52, he won the Morrish Medal in 1953. He's been a football club board member, a social club board member, he's been a patron club and obviously president of the club ... he's had an outstanding role at this football club."
On Monday, the Commonwealth DPP withdrew all charges because of Mr Pratt's advanced terminal cancer.
After dropping the charges, Commonwealth Prosecutor Mark Dean SC told the Federal Court the CDPP believed the prosecution would have succeeded.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Pratt's lawyer Leon Zwier said the Pratt family took great comfort in the end of Mr Pratt's legal battle.
"He (Mr Pratt) has maintained from the beginning that he is innocent and is presumed to be innocent and that's all that matters," Mr Zwier told ABC Radio.
"Richard Pratt never wanted, doesn't want and would not have wanted prosecution to be terminated because of ill-health.
"Mr Pratt will die an innocent man."
Mr Pratt arrived in Australia from Poland as a four-year-old with his parents shortly before World War II.
His father started a packaging company in the fruit-growing district of Shepparton, which Mr Pratt turned into the biggest of its kind in the world.
But the global empire hit troubled times in 2005 when it was named as part of a price-fixing cartel along with rival company Amcor.
His reputation was dented when Amcor went to the competition regulator with revelations of a four-year arrangement between the pair that inflated the price of cardboard packaging by 20 per cent.
After an ACCC investigation he admitted price fixing and was fined $36 million - the biggest corporate fine in Australia.
He later gave up his Companion of the Order of Australia, the nation's highest civic award.
This month, Mr Pratt faced four charges of giving false or misleading evidence to the ACCC at a hearing in 2005, charges he, his family and friends vehemently denied.
It's believed Mr Pratt's funeral will be held at the Kew Hebrew Congregation's synagogue in Walpole Street, Kew, a short distance from his mansion, on Thursday at 11am (AEST).
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