Kerry Stokes (b. 1940) is a prominent Australian businessman who is particularly well known for being Chair of the Seven Network, one of the largest broadcasting corporations in Australia.

Kerry Stokes was born John Patrick Alford to 20 year Marie Jean Alford, who was impoverished & unmarried. He was taken out of Broadmeadows orphanage when he was 3 & adopted by Irene & Matthew Stokes who were also impoversihed. He suffered from dyslexia & left school at 14.

The Boy from Nowhere: A Great Australian Journey (2014) by Andrew Rules is a biography of Kerry Stokes. Rule describes Stokes’ story as a Dickensian one, of a poor boy overcoming poverty and the stigma of being “illegitimate”.