James Packer
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James Douglas Packer (born September 8, 1967) is an Australian businessman and Australia's richest man.
Packer is the son of the late billionaire media mogul Kerry Packer. James Packer is the Executive Chairman of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL), which owns some stations of the Australian commercial television network Nine. He also inherited the family private company: Consolidated Press Holdings Pty Ltd, which control investments in PBL and other companies.
He was educated at the Tudor House School in Moss Vale and at Cranbrook School. After obtaining the Higher School Certificate ( HSC ) at Cranbrook, Kerry decided it was time to toughen his son up to prepare him for the world of business. He was sent to his father's massive Newcastle Waters cattle station in the Northern Territory, where he worked as a jackeroo. His father dismissed the idea of sending young James to University by saying "Why would he want to go [to University]. To go learn to smoke marijuana?" [citation needed]
In October 1999, he married swimsuit model Jodie Meares (who has since changed her first name to Jodhi), but in June 2002 they separated. He has also recently parted ways with his girlfriend of 3 1/2 years, Australian model Erica Baxter [1]. At one stage it was rumoured that he was rekindling his romance with his ex-wife, Jodie Meares (Jodhi Packer), however it now appears that he may be getting back together with Erica Baxter. Past girlfriends have included Tania Bryer, Kate Fischer and Joan Severance.
The purchase of the Burswood Entertainment Complex in Perth Australia adds to PBL's gaming business. James now wishes to add further gaming assets in Macau in partnership with Stanley Ho. He's also teaming up with Damian Aspinall, son of John Aspinall, in creating a group of casino complexes in Great Britain called Aspers. [citation needed]
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[edit] One.Tel collapse
James Packer was a director of Australian Telecommunications company One.Tel, which was declared insolvent during May 2001. The collapse of One.Tel cost PBL AU$327 million. Packer admitted at a PBL Annual General Meeting that he had learned "painful lessons" from the collapse of One.Tel. Later at the liquidator's inquiry over the collapse he denied that he was apologising for his own personal conduct. Instead he claimed, "I was making an apology for accepting the bona fides of Mr. Rich and a Mr. Tim Heaney, and the executive directors of One.Tel."
Besides his father, his toughest mentor has been Albert J. Dunlap. Dunlap is known in American business circles for shedding massive numbers of company workforces to improve the finances of corporations. His tenure at Sunbeam is a specific example.
[edit] Packer and Scientology
In 2002, Packer began attending the Church of Scientology, taking courses on the Church's Dundas campus. It was reported in the Australian media that Tom Cruise had urged Packer to join Scientology and begin auditing sessions. Tom Cruise had a very close male bonding, especially after his separation from Kidman. The Sydney Morning Herald said "the bond between the two men strengthened in the wake of the collapse of telephony company One.Tel last year and his separation from wife Jodhi in June". During this time, Packer traveled extensively to the Scientology Celebrity Centre in Los Angeles. [2] [3]
It has been reported by the Australian Daily Telegraph that Packer was an extra in Cruise's film The Last Samurai.[4]
[edit] Further reading
Paul Barry, Rich Kids, Bantam Books, 2002, ISBN 1-86325-338-6
