It was only ever meant to be “a little bit of fun” but it’s turned into a life-changing venture for the beloved star of The Morning Show.
Channel 7/InstagramHe’s been a beloved face on The Morning Show for almost two decades, but now Channel Seven star Larry Emdur is celebrating a new $10 million career win.
It’s all down to The Ben Buckler Whisky Company – the alcohol brand Larry launched as a lighthearted project for his 60th birthday.
Just two years on, the brand is set to expand into the US, after securing investment from a star of TV show Shark Tank.
Canadian businessman Robert Herjavec has lent his support to Larry’s fledgling project by way of something called a SAFE, meaning a simple agreement for future equity. The move sees the company valued at a whopping $10 million.
“Just after my 50th birthday, I started thinking about the things I wanted to do before I turned 60. Some were ridiculous, some were fun, and making my own whisky felt like a pretty good blend of both,” Larry shared.
“I just wanted to make 60 bottles of whisky for 60 friends for my 60th birthday. It was only ever meant to be a little bit of fun for my mates, but we accidentally created one of Australia’s favourite new whiskies.”
Larry’s “special whisky” is named after Ben Buckler – a point comprising of just three streets in Bondi where Larry grew up as a working class kid who had dreams of being a surfer.
“The Ben Buckler is a nod to that place, those memories and the kind of Australian spirit I grew up around: relaxed, generous, a little cheeky and always better with good people,” Larry revealed.
Sharing an Instagram post acknowledging the new investment development on August 25, The Morning Show star celebrated how it had created “more headlines and more momentum”.
“This piece of the puzzle [is] now gaining some serious attention,” he wrote.
“Exciting times ahead for little Benny. Thanks for your support everybody.”
Larry’s Morning Show co-star, Kylie Gillies, has been vocal about her own support for his career pivot.
“He knows a winner when he sees it,” she shared, referring to Herjavec’s investment in Larry’s brand. “Congratulations! and cheers to continued success. (Definitely means New York trips are now tax deductions, right ?!?,” she quipped.
“@kyliegillies that’s definitely what it means 😜🥃🥃 ,” Larry joked back.
The US expansion comes after Larry revealed his whisky was set to be served up at the “best resorts” in Fiji.
Whisky is a business venture that Larry may not have seen coming, but the beloved star has a history of turning opportunity into success.
Speaking to Mark Bouris on an episode of Straight Talk published in December 2025, Larry admitted he was “very, very bad at school” and was kicked out aged 16.
“I wanted to be a surfer. That’s all I wanted to do – I was surfing every minute of every day that I possibly could,” Larry told Bouris of his Bondi childhood, on the podcast
“I wanted to leave school. Back then… if you had a job it was ok. Any job would do, a mate of mine was a garbo and he’d start work at 4am in the morning and finish at 9.30am in the morning.”
Back then, Larry came “very, very close” to becoming a refuse collector because he thought it would give him the opportunity to surf all day.
But then a job came up – working overnight as a copy boy at the Sun newspaper for $70 a week – and Larry thought that could see his surfing dreams come true too.
That role would prove to be the launch pad for a media career – even though he didn’t want to be a journalist at the time.
“I have no qualifications. I have no right to be sitting here with you, having spent 40 years relatively successfully in television,” Larry candidly admitted to Bouris.
“There’s been some bombs as well, believe me. But I look back on my entire career and go ‘that’s either fate or it’s a chain of happy accidents’, but at no point have I been able to stand in front of anyone and go ‘I’m qualified and I’m good for this job’. At no point.”
Larry revealed he felt “very lucky” and “blessed” to have seen such career success.
“I know that it’s cliched to say that… in a business that chews people up and spits them out pretty quick,” he admitted.
“There’s plenty of times when I probably should have been gone.
“I’ve done some sh** shows, Mark. Some horrible shows. Some of the worst shows on TV. And that should have been me gone.”