Malcolm Steinberg founded Leisure & Allied Industries (LAI) in Perth and served as the group’s CEO for 55 years until 2013. The business commenced when Mr Steinberg imported 21 pinball machines to WA in 1958. It subsequently launched Timezone entertainment centres in 1978. Timezone continues to operate today, with over 360 centres across seven countries (Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Singapore) and annual sales in excess of $800 million. Its ownership changed in 2017, when Quadrant Private Equity and the Steinberg family established The Entertainment and Education Group. TEEG acquired Timezone for an undisclosed sum and in December 2017 announced plans to acquire the ten-pin bowling and entertainment division of Ardent Leisure for $160 million.
Helix Leisure is the LAI group’s supply company. It was formed in 2014 through a merger of four businesses developed separately by LAI. Embed supplies cashless revenue management systems to the out-of-home entertainment industry, LAI Games is a designer, manufacturer, and distributor of amusement machines, Arcade XR Which provides a real arcade online service through www.arcadeonline.com, and Matahari Leisure has Indonesia’s largest amusement-machine manufacturing facility. Helix Leisure purchased Booking Boss in 2017.
In 2009, Malcolm Steinberg received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA). It was the first and only time the award has been issued to a non-American. He was also an inaugural inductee into the Industry Hall of Fame in 2023.
Malcolm remains a non-executive director and chairman of his business Enterprises and spends most of his time overseeing Malka Foundation, a family charitable trust which focuses on helping young entrepreneurs and founders develop new businesses. Malka foundation and the Steinberg family office are cornerstone investors in Purpose Ventures venture capital fund established in 2023.
