A high-profile British businessman who died alongside his family in a seaplane crash north of Sydney has left a reported £41m ($A71.5m) fortune to scandal-hit charity Oxfam.
The organisation said on Tuesday it was "extremely grateful" for the bequest from Richard Cousins, who died alongside his fiancee, his two sons and her daughter in the crash into the Hawkesbury River on New Year's Eve.
The sum will be a welcome boost for the charity after it reported thousands had cancelled donations in the wake of a Haiti sex scandal.
Oxfam was unable to confirm the sum donated but The Sun newspaper reported it to be £41m.
A "common tragedy clause" was drawn up in Mr Cousins' will a year before the accident stating that the charity would be the main beneficiary if he was killed alongside his sons, the newspaper said.
An Oxfam spokesman said: "We are extremely grateful for this bequest of which we have only recently been notified.
Richard Cousins was killed alongside his two adult sons when a seaplane crashed into a river north of Sydney. Source: AAP
"We are working with the family and our board of trustees to identify how the money will be used."
Mr Cousins, 58, who was chief executive of Compass Group, died alongside his fiancee, magazine editor Emma Bowden, 48, his sons Will and Edward, 25 and 23, and her 11-year-old daughter as well as the seaplane's pilot, Gareth Morgan, when it plunged into Jerusalem Bay.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigated the crash, which the aircraft's operator said happened after the pilot took a "totally inexplicable" turn.
Pictured is Emma Bowden and her daughter, Heather, who died in the Sydney seaplane crash. Source: Supplied
A turbulent period for Oxfam began in February when allegations emerged that some of its aid workers had used prostitutes in Haiti, which was reeling from a 2010 earthquake.
Oxfam GB chief executive Mark Goldring told MPs that month that about 7,000 people had cancelled donations in the prior 10 days and corporate sponsors were "reserving judgment".
