Chris Coe: Tragic death of Sydney private schoolboy turned financier who fell off London building

Former Sydney private schoolboy turned international financier Christopher Coe has died in London aged 39 after a tragic fall from building.

Christopher is the eldest son of flamboyant Australian businessman David ‘Coey’ Coe, who died of a heart attack aged 58 during a ski trip to Colorado.

Like his famous father – whose Sydney funeral in 2013  was attended by film and rock stars as well as Australia’s business, sporting and political elite – Chris Coe is being remembered as charismatic and well-liked.

The Sydney Boys Grammar graduate had worked with private equity firms in Australia and the UK, having gained arts and commerce degrees from Sydney University and an MBA from Oxford University business school.

He most recently worked for Agilitas Private Equity in London.

The full details of his death have not yet been revealed but sources told Daily Mail Australia he had fallen from a building. 

The eldest of David Coe’s three sons, Chris delivered a memorable eulogy at his father’s funeral a decade ago, describing him as his ‘mentor, coach, hero and best friend’. 

More than a thousand people packed Sydney Grammar’s school hall for the star-studded farewell, which was attended by stars such as Hollywood actor Russell Crowe and cricketers Shane Warne, Michael Clarke and Steve Waugh.

David Coe (pictured left with his wife Michelle and other family members) died suddenly of a heart attack during a ski trip to Aspen in 2013

Details of Chris Coe’s (pictured) death have not been revealed but sources told Daily Mail Australia he had fallen from a building 

Other mourners included ex-Wallaby stars Phil Kearns, John Eales, George Gregan and Simon Poidevin, former prime minister John Howard, INXS guitarist Kirk Pengilly, Olympics boss John Coates and captains of industry.

During the ceremony, Christopher Coe recalled that after a lunch in London just four months earlier his father embraced him and said, ‘This is the last time I will see you,’ alluding to the fact he was leaving London to return to Sydney on business. 

‘If I had known it was the last time I was  (ever) going to see him I would never have let him go,’ he told mourners.

David Coe’s second son Robert said his father had fitted ’10 lifetimes into his 58 years’, while other family members, business associates and sporting figures told stories of a generous man who was  the life of the party and a brilliant businessman.

His largest venture, Allco Finance Group, collapsed in  2008 with massive losses

It was a failure David Coe did not resile from, but from which he emerged supported by family friends and corporate colleagues.

Film star Russell Crowe was among the notable guests at the 2013 funeral of David ‘Coey’ Coe, the charismatic father of Chris Coe who has tragically died in London

Cricket legend Shane Warne  was among sports and entertainment stars who attended David Coe’s 2013 funeral at Sydney Grammar School 

He became chairman of Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art, and was also on the board of the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation and the National Gallery of Australia Foundation. 

Close friend and business associate Greg Woolley said at the time that David Coe ‘had integrity and charm in bucket loads and people just wanted to do business with him’.

‘He had an incredible intellectual capacity and an incredible commercial capacity,’ Mr Wooley said.

A memorial to honour the life of Christopher Coe will be held in Sydney in the coming weeks. 

Daily Mail Australia has sought comment from London’s Metropolitan Police.