Editing Kerry Packer

{{Short description|Australian publishing, media and gaming tycoon (1937-2005)}}
{{Use Australian English|date=December 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Kerry Packer
| honorific_suffix   = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AC}}
| image              = Kerry Packer.jpg
| caption            = Packer at Parliament House in 1991
| birth_name         = Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1937|12|17|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Sydney]], New South Wales, Australia
| death_date         = {{death date and age|2005|12|26|1937|12|17|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Sydney]], New South Wales, Australia
| resting_place      = [[Ellerston, New South Wales]], Australia
| education          = {{unbulleted list|[[Geelong Grammar School]]|[[Cranbrook School, Sydney|Cranbrook School]]|[[Canberra Grammar School]]<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/chip-off-the-old-block/2005/12/30/1135915692196.html |title=Chip off the old block |work=[[The Age]] |date=2005-12-31 <!-- To the well-meaning people who keep deleting Packer from the list: yes, he really was at Canberra Grammar, as the attached Age article confirms. -->|location=Melbourne}}</ref>}}
| occupation         = [[Media proprietor]]
| years active       = 1960−2005
| known_for          = {{unbulleted list|[[Nine Network|Ownership of Channel Nine]]|[[Publishing and Broadcasting Limited|Other media]] [[Australian Consolidated Press|and journalism interests]]|[[World Series Cricket]]}}
| boards             = {{unbulleted list|[[Nine Network]]|[[Publishing and Broadcasting Limited]]|[[Are Media#Australian Consolidated Press|Australian Consolidated Press]]}}
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Roslyn Packer|Roslyn Weedon]] {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AC}}|1963|2005|reason={{abbr|wid.|widowed}}}}
| children           = [[Gretel Packer|Gretel]] and [[James Packer]]
| father             = Sir [[Frank Packer]] {{post-nominals|country=AUS|sep=,|KBE|OStJ}}
| mother             = Gretel Bullmore
| relatives          = {{unbulleted list|[[Clyde Packer]] (brother)|[[Robert Clyde Packer]] (grandfather)|[[Herbert Bullmore]] (grandfather)}}
}}

'''Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AC}} (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rowe |first=D |title=Rugby league in Australia: The super league saga |journal=Journal of Sport & Social Issues |pages=221–226}}</ref> The [[Packer family]] company owned a [[controlling interest]] in both the [[Nine Network]] and the publishing company [[Are Media#Australian Consolidated Press|Australian Consolidated Press]], which were later merged to form [[Publishing and Broadcasting Limited]] (PBL). Outside Australia, Packer was best known for founding [[World Series Cricket]]. At the time of his death, he was the richest and one of the most influential men in Australia. In 2004, ''[[Business Review Weekly]]'' magazine estimated Packer's net worth at {{A$|6.5&nbsp;billion}}.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/24/1085359552381.html |title=The richest list of all |work=[[The Age]] |location=Melbourne |author=Skeffington, Robert |date=24 May 2004 |access-date=26 July 2011 }}</ref>

==Early life==
Kerry Packer was born on 17 December 1937 in [[Sydney]], Australia. His father was [[Frank Packer|Sir Frank Packer]], an Australian media proprietor who controlled [[Are Media#Australian Consolidated Press|Australian Consolidated Press]] and the [[Nine Network]]. His mother, Gretel Bullmore, was the daughter of [[Herbert Bullmore]], the Scottish rugby union player. He had an older brother, [[Clyde Packer]]. He took part in various sports at school, including boxing, cricket, and rugby; though he struggled academically, possibly due to undiagnosed [[dyslexia]].<ref name=Higham/> On his father's death in 1974, the family estate, valued at $100 million, passed directly to Packer. His father had fallen out with his elder son, Clyde, in 1972.<ref name=Higham>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ssSijGtEWyAC&pg=PA183 |title=Giants of Tourism |author1=Highham, James E. S.  |author2=Cohen, Scott |page=182|publisher=CABI |year= 2010 |isbn=9781845936532 |access-date=18 July 2013}}</ref>

==Business==
Packer, through his family company Consolidated Press Holdings, was the major shareholder with a 37% holding in [[Publishing and Broadcasting Limited]] (PBL).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Melco/PBL Joint Venture acquires remaining 30% of Park Hyatt Project in Macau|url=https://www.melco-group.com/press/PRA_20050322.pdf}}</ref> Until Packer's death PBL owned the [[Nine Network|Nine television network]], and [[Are Media#Australian Consolidated Press|Australian Consolidated Press]] which produces many of Australia's top-selling magazines. He was involved in a number of other gambling and tourism ventures, notably [[Crown Melbourne|Crown Casino]] in Melbourne.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kerry Packer Bio|url=https://www.gamblingsites.org/biographies/kerry-packer/}}</ref> The [[Nine Network]] and [[Australian Consolidated Press]] businesses have since been divested to [[PBL Media]].

Packer was widely respected in business circles, courted by politicians on both sides, and was widely regarded as one of the most astute businessmen of his time, despite having been a poor student.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2005-12-27|title=A pioneer in the realm of television|url=https://www.smh.com.au/business/a-pioneer-in-the-realm-of-television-20051227-gdmoyf.html|access-date=2021-08-14|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en}}</ref>

Although Packer's reputation as an astute businessman was legendary and he made some good investments, he was by no means a [[self-made man]]—his grandfather, [[Robert Clyde Packer]], and his father, Sir Frank Packer, had built up the media empire and its related holdings over many decades. As pointed out by internet news outlet [[Crikey]], if $100 million had been invested in the Australian sharemarket in September 1974 through a balanced portfolio of the top 200 companies, that portfolio would be worth a lot more than $6.9 billion in December 2005, possibly as much as $11 billion.<ref>"How good a businessman was Packer", Crikey, 9 January 2006 http://www.crikey.com.au/articles/2006/01/09-1554-6139.htm {{dead link|date=October 2013}}</ref>

Packer controlled [[Nine Network]] and ''[[Nine's Wide World of Sports]]'' in the 1980s, and "famously sold the network to [[Alan Bond]] and then bought it back three years later for less than a quarter of the price." Writes the ''Sydney Morning Herald'', "Packer's decision to sell Nine to Bond in 1987 for $1.2 billion - before buying back the network in 1990 for $250 million - is legendary in Australian television."<ref name="SMHrying">Barrett, Chris (13 April 2018), [https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/no-crying-in-television-packer-would-be-pragmatic-about-switch-20180413-p4z9fr.html "'No crying in television': Packer would be pragmatic about switch"], ''The Sydney Morning Herald''.</ref>

Moreover, Packer was not the first choice to take over the running of the family's business empire—his father had intended that Kerry's elder brother, Clyde Packer, would take over the company, but Clyde fell out with his father in the early 1970s and left Australia permanently.

Kerry Packer's independent business life began after his father's death in 1974 when he inherited control of the family's controlling share in PBL, valued at {{A$|100&nbsp;million}}. Further, his principal Australian investments in television and casinos were highly protected from competition by government regulation which Packer and his employees worked very hard to have maintained.

The Packer family's business reputation suffered a blow following the 2001 collapse of [[One.Tel]], a telephone company in which his son, [[James Packer|James]], had invested.

Kerry Packer was also one of Australia's largest landholders.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2005-12-27|title=Australia's richest man, Kerry Packer, dies at 68|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/27/world/asia/australias-richest-man-kerry-packer-dies-at-68.html|access-date=2021-08-14|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 2003, a deposit of [[ruby|rubies]] was discovered on one of his properties.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2005-03-06|title=How Kerry Packer unearthed $30 million|url=https://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/how-kerry-packer-unearthed-30-million-20050306-gdzqb3.html|access-date=2021-08-14|website=The Age|language=en}}</ref>

The Packer media empire included magazines, television networks, telecommunications, petrochemicals, heavy engineering, a 75% stake in the [[Perisher Blue]] ski resort, diamond exploration, coal mines and property, a share in the Foxtel cable TV network, and investments in the lucrative casino business in Australia and overseas.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2006-01-05|title=The great inheritor|newspaper=The Economist|url=https://www.economist.com/business/2006/01/05/the-great-inheritor|access-date=2021-08-14|issn=0013-0613}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=CNN.com - Media mogul Kerry Packer dies - Dec 27, 2005|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/12/26/obit.packer/|access-date=2021-08-14|website=CNN}}</ref>

==Media interests==

===The "Packer Empire"===
The Packer family has long been involved in media. Packer's grandfather [[Robert Clyde Packer]] owned two Sydney newspapers while his father, Sir Frank Packer, was one of Australia's first media moguls, and Kerry's son, James, was executive chairman of PBL, before resigning in 2008. Sir Frank wanted Kerry to experience work in the newspaper industry from the ground up, so Packer started in the loading dock of the Sydney newspaper ''[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Telegraph]]'', loading papers. He was not originally destined for the role, but in the early 1970s Kerry took the place of the designated successor, his older brother, Clyde, after Clyde fell out with their father, quit PBL and moved to America. Kerry took over the running of PBL in 1974, on the death of his father.

===The CBC Disaster===
During the 1980s, Packer owned radio stations 2UE and 3AK. He decided to link both stations to form the ill-fated Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation. With both stations networked, breakfast came from Melbourne's 3AK and everything else from Sydney's 2UE. The format lasted six months in 1986.

===Alan Bond media buyback===
In 1987, Packer made a fortune at the expense of disgraced tycoon [[Alan Bond (businessman)|Alan Bond]]. He reportedly sold Bond the [[Nine Network]] at the record price of {{A$|1.05&nbsp;billion}} in 1987, and then bought it back three years later for a mere A$250&nbsp;million, when Bond's empire was collapsing. Packer later quipped, "You only get one Alan Bond in your lifetime, and I've had mine".<ref name="Age-obit">{{cite news |work=[[The Age]] |date=28 December 2005 |page=7 |title=Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer 1937–2005 |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2005/12/27/1135445572500.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1 |access-date=27 April 2011 |location=Melbourne}}</ref> Packer was then able to reinvest the proceeds in a 25% share in the [[Foxtel]] [[pay TV]] consortium.

After the sale to Bond, Packer said that he had regretted the decision to sell Nine and wished he had not gone through with the transaction. At the 2006 PBL [[Annual General Meeting|AGM]], Kerry's son, James, told of the true complexities of the deal. Kerry Packer received A$800&nbsp;million in cash, with A$250&nbsp;million left in Bond Media as [[subordinated debt]]. As Bond went under, Packer converted the subordinated debt into a 37% stake in Bond Media. About A$500&nbsp;million of debt remained in Bond Media. Packer received $800&nbsp;million in cash before receiving a free 37% equity stake that put a debt-included value of A$500&nbsp;million on the Nine Network, which by then included Channel Nine in Brisbane.<ref>{{cite news |first=Stephen |last=Mayne |author-link=Stephen Mayne |title=Packer explodes Alan Bond myth |date=27 October 2006 |access-date=27 October 2006 |work=[[Crikey]] |publisher=Private Media Pty Ltd |url=http://www.crikey.com.au/Business/20061027-Packer-explodes-a-myth-media-refuses-to-report.html |url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061108223656/http://www.crikey.com.au/Business/20061027-Packer-explodes-a-myth-media-refuses-to-report.html |archive-date=8 November 2006}}</ref>

===Hands-on business approach===
Packer sometimes took a direct interest in the editorial content of his papers, although he was far less interventionist than the notoriously hands-on [[Rupert Murdoch]]. Packer also occasionally interfered directly in the programming of his TV stations; in 1992, he called his Sydney station, [[TCN-9]], and ordered its personnel to "Get that shit off the air!", referring to ''[[Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos]]'' hosted by [[Doug Mulray]], which was cut during its [[List of television series cancelled after one episode|first and only airing]] on national television. (It has since aired in its entirety.) He is also said to have often manipulated broadcasts of cricket himself, to ensure that the end of a cricket match was broadcast, despite previously set television broadcast schedules.

===Government inquiry and legal challenges===
Packer faced a 1991 Australian government inquiry into the print media industry with some reluctance, but great humour. When asked to state his full name and the capacity in which he appeared, he replied: "Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer. I have appeared here reluctantly." Packer fronted the inquiry over allegations that he had some secret control over the content of the [[Fairfax Media|Fairfax]] papers (an organisation that Packer had wished to purchase for some time, but was restricted from by cross-ownership laws). During the inquiry, he repeatedly berated the politicians conducting it, and the government. When asked about his company's tax-minimisation schemes, he replied: "Of course I am minimising my tax. And if anybody in this country doesn't minimise their tax, they want their heads read, because as a government, I can tell you you're not spending it that well that we should be donating extra!"

At the time of his death, the Nine Network was the jewel in the PBL crown. Although it had a tough year in 2005 against rival [[Seven Network]] (which was aided largely by US TV hits such as ''[[Desperate Housewives]]'' and ''[[Lost (2004 TV series)|Lost]]''), Nine still finished the year as the number-one network.

==World Series Cricket==
{{Main|World Series Cricket}}
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Packer_acb_cartoon.jpg|250px|right]] -->
Outside Australia, Packer was best known for founding [[World Series Cricket]]. In 1977 the Nine Network cricket rights deal led to a confrontation with the [[cricket]] authorities, as top players from several countries rushed to join him at the expense of their international sides.

One of the leaders of the "rebellion" was England captain [[Tony Greig]], who remained a commentator on the Nine Network's payroll until his death in December 2012. Packer's aim was to secure broadcasting rights for Australian cricket, and he was largely successful. In the 1970s the global cricket establishment fiercely opposed Packer in the courts. To counter the establishment, Packer hired the ten best Queen's Counsels in the UK and put them on retainers, stipulating that they were not to take on any additional work during the court case (the sole purpose of which was to deny the establishment the best legal minds to prosecute their case) .{{citation needed|date=February 2013}} When he died he was mourned with a minute's silence at the [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]] as one of the most influential figures in the history of the sport.

Packer was famously quoted from a 1976 meeting with the [[Australian Cricket Board]], with whom he met to negotiate the rights to televise cricket. According to witnesses, he said: "There is a little bit of the whore in all of us, gentlemen. What is your price?"<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/lillee-goes-in-to-bat-for-packer-but-some-argue-his-methods-werejust-not-cricket/2005/12/27/1135445571481.html |last=Brown |first=Alex |title=Lillee goes in to bat for Packer but some argue his methods were just not |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=28 December 2005 |access-date=31 March 2010}}</ref>

==World Rugby Corporation==
Packer funded the World Rugby Corporation (WRC), a company formed by lawyer Geoff Levy and former Wallaby player [[Ross Turnbull (rugby union)|Ross Turnbull]]. Both wanted a professional worldwide [[rugby union]] competition in 1995. A majority of the All Blacks and Wallaby teams signed up to the WRC. In response, the Australian, New Zealand and South African rugby unions formed [[SANZAR]], who partnered with [[News Limited]] to launch two professional competitions, the [[Super Rugby|Super 12]] and [[The Rugby Championship|Tri Nations Series]]. The South African Rugby Union told the Springboks players that they would never play for their country again if they committed to the WRC, and they remained with the SARU. Most of the All Blacks then followed them, and finally the Wallabies did too, so the WRC project was abandoned.<ref>{{cite book|last=Howitt|first=Bob |year=2005| title=SANZAR Saga: Ten Years of Super 12 and Tri-Nations Rugby| publisher=Harper Collins Publishers |isbn=1-86950-566-2}}</ref>

==Controversy==
Packer was often the centre of controversy. One of the earliest incidents occurred on 7 June 1960, when his father was trying to take over the Anglican Press, a small publisher run by [[Francis James]]. According to author [[Richard Neville (writer)|Richard Neville]], Frank Packer was angered by James's refusal to sell the Anglican Press, so he sent Kerry and some burly friends to pressure him into selling. They forced their way in and reportedly began vandalising the premises, but James was able to barricade himself in his office and call Rupert Murdoch, Packer's most powerful rival. Murdoch quickly dispatched his own team of 'heavies', who threw Kerry and friends out. Not surprisingly, the Murdoch press had a field day with the news that the son of Australia's biggest media tycoon had been caught brawling in the street.<ref>{{cite book |author=Neville, Richard |author-link=Richard Neville (writer) |title=Hippie, Hippie, Shake: The Dreams, the Trips, the Trials, the Love-ins, the Screw ups – the Sixties |publisher=[[William Heinemann|William Heinemann Australia]] |year=1995 |isbn=0-85561-523-0 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Nine-tenths of the law|url=http://inside.org.au/nine-tenths-of-the-law/|work=Inside Story|date=3 June 2010 |publisher=Swinburne Institute|access-date=16 September 2013}}</ref>

Like Murdoch, Packer's critics saw his ever-expanding cross-media holdings as a potential threat to media diversity and [[freedom of speech]]. He also repeatedly came under fire for his companies' alleged involvement in [[Tax evasion|tax evasion schemes]] and for the extremely low amounts of [[Corporate tax|company tax]] that his corporations are reported to have paid over the years. He fought repeated battles with the [[Australian Taxation Office]] over his corporate taxes.

His most severe legal challenge came in 1984 with the [[Costigan Commission]] alleging (using the codename of "the squirrel", renamed "the [[Goanna]]" in media reports<ref>{{cite news | last = Huxley | first = John | url = https://www.smh.com.au/news/national/costigan-angry-and-sticking-to-his-guns/2006/02/20/1140284005849.html | title = Costigan angry and sticking to his guns | work=The Sydney Morning Herald | date = 21 February 2006 }}</ref>) that he was involved in tax evasion and [[Organized crime|organised crime]], including [[Illegal drug trade|drug trafficking]]. He successfully counter-attacked the commission with the assistance of his counsel [[Malcolm Turnbull]]. In 1987, the charges were formally dismissed by [[Attorney-General of Australia|Attorney-General]] [[Lionel Bowen]]. Mystery surrounded Packer's receipt of a "loan" of A$225,000 in cash from Brian Ray, a bankrupt Queensland businessman.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/national/missing-a-mate-with-a-loan-for-packer/2005/07/10/1120934128872.html |title=Missing: a mate with a loan for Packer |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=4 October 1983 |access-date=31 March 2010}}</ref> When questioned about this transaction at the Costigan Royal Commission, Packer said "...I like cash. I have a squirrel mentality. I like to keep money in cash. It is by no means the most cash I ever had in my life."<ref name='Molloy 2007'>{{cite book |last=Molloy |first=Andrew |title=I'll Toss You For It! |publisher=Australian Media Pty Ltd |year=2007 |location=Double Bay, NSW |page=12 |url=http://www.kerrypacker.com |isbn=978-0-646-47901-9 }}</ref>

Notwithstanding the significant efforts made to preserve his security and privacy, Packer suffered two mysterious break-ins at his companies' headquarters in Park Street, Sydney:
* In 1995, 25 gold bars, weighing a total of {{convert|285|kg}}—equivalent to A$23.3 million at 2022 gold prices—and a [[Vegemite]] jar full of gold nuggets were stolen from Packer's personal safe;<ref>{{cite news |title=Crimes can't avoid DNA tests of time|author1=Ongaro, Daniela |author2=Morri, Mark |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/crimes-cant-avoid-dna-tests-of-time/story-e6frg6n6-1226573885843 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=9 February 2013 |access-date=12 August 2013}}
</ref>
* In 2003, a licensed [[Glock]] {{convert|9|mm|in|adj=on}} semi-automatic pistol was stolen from a desk drawer on the executive level. Packer was not charged with failing to "keep safe" the weapon, but he did subsequently surrender his firearms licence.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/02/19/1045638361027.html |title=Packer hands in licence for pistol stolen from desk |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=20 February 2003 |access-date=31 March 2010}}</ref>

Packer broke the [[Sporting boycott of South Africa during the apartheid era|sports boycott]] of [[apartheid]] South Africa which prevented South African sportsmen from representing their country when he recruited a number of South African cricketers to play on his World Series Cricket Team. His timing was criticised, coming just months after the [[Soweto riots]] and the death of [[Steve Biko]], murdered by the members of the South African security forces.

==Personal life==
Packer's primary schooling suffered greatly when he was struck with a severe bout of [[poliomyelitis]] at age eight, and he was confined to an [[Negative pressure ventilator|iron lung]] for nine months. His father apparently thought little of his son's abilities, once cruelly describing him as "the family idiot", although Kerry subsequently steered PBL to heights far beyond anything his father or brother achieved. The nickname his father gave Kerry made him strive to new heights in schooling, trying to achieve "A" grades. His end of year report said he was one of the most notable students. In an interview, former employee [[Trevor Sykes]] stated that "He didn't read much on the printed page. If you didn't want Kerry to read something, you wrote more than a one-page memo."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2005/s1538561.htm |work=[[7.30 Report]] |title=A good boss |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=27 December 2005 |access-date=31 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605045259/http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2005/s1538561.htm |archive-date=5 June 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Packer's grandfather [[Herbert Bullmore]] represented the [[Scotland national rugby union team]] in an international match against [[Ireland national rugby union team|Ireland]] in Dublin in 1902 and worked as a doctor in Sydney for many years.<ref>{{cite news|last=Growden|first=Greg|title=Australians breathe life into Scots' game|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/11/05/1099547389061.html?from=storylhs|work=[[The Age]]|access-date=12 July 2012|location=Melbourne|date=6 November 2004}}</ref>

Kerry Packer and his wife of 42 years, [[Roslyn Packer]] (''nee'' Weedon), had two children: a daughter, [[Gretel Packer|Gretel]], and a son, James. At the time of Packer's death, he and Ros had two grandchildren: Francesca then 10, and Ben, then 7, from Gretel's first marriage to British financier Nick Barham,<ref>Davies, Lisa (28 December 2005), [http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17675668-2,00.html "A grieving Gretel gets ready for birth"], ''News.com.au''. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051230011746/http://www.news.com.au/story/0%2C10117%2C17675668-2%2C00.html |date=30 December 2005 }}</ref> and Gretel and her husband Shane Murray were expecting their first child together, William (born 2006).<ref name="ninemsn1">{{cite web |author=JCT |url=http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=79417 |title=Small funeral for a giant of a man |location=Australia |work=Nine News |date=13 September 2009 |access-date=31 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605102001/http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=79417 |archive-date=5 June 2011}}</ref> Gretel and Shane married just before Packer's death.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/01/29/1138469600657.html |title=Baby boy for Gretel Packer |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=29 January 2006 |access-date=31 March 2010 |agency=[[Australian Associated Press]]}}</ref>

Packer conducted extra-marital affairs with a number of women including the model Carol Lopes, who reportedly committed suicide after being shunned by Packer; publisher and former ConPress employee [[Ita Buttrose]] and Julie Trethowan, his long-time mistress and manager (from 1983) of the Packer-owned Sydney city health and fitness club, the Hyde Park Club. After his death, ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'' reported that from about 1995, Packer transferred control of multimillion-dollar Sydney real estate holdings to Trethowan.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/07/25/1185339079903.html?page=2 | first = Matthew | last = Ricketson | title =A man of means, mistresses and a few bordellos | work=The Age | date = 26 July 2007 | location=Melbourne}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.smh.com.au/news/business/how-packer-lavished-his-property-on-a-friend/2006/01/06/1136387625052.html | title = How Packer lavished his property on a friend | work=The Sydney Morning Herald | date = 7 January 2006 | access-date =31 March 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.smh.com.au/news/national/packers-quick-2m-renovation/2006/01/14/1137119007803.html | title = Packer's quick $2m renovation | work=The Sydney Morning Herald | date = 15 January 2006 | access-date =31 March 2010}}</ref>

In June 2009, the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' reported that former [[List of Australian Leaders of the Opposition|federal opposition leader]] and future Australian Prime Minister, [[Malcolm Turnbull]], a former legal adviser and business associate of Packer, revealed to journalist [[Annabel Crabb]] that Packer had threatened to have him killed when they fell out over their 1991 attempt to take over the Fairfax newspaper group through their Tourang consortium. Packer reportedly made the threat after Turnbull told Packer he was going to have him thrown out of the consortium by revealing Packer's intention to play an interventionist role in the newspaper group.

{{blockquote|He told me he'd kill me, yeah. I didn't think he was completely serious, but I didn't think he was entirely joking either. Look, he could be pretty scary. He did threaten to kill me and I said to him: "Well, you'd better make sure that your assassin gets me first because, if he misses, you better know I won't miss you." He could be a complete pig, you know. He could charm the birds out of the trees, but he could be a brute.|[[Malcolm Turnbull]], 4 June 2009, as reported in ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]''<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/brute-packer-threatened-to-kill-me-turnbull-20090603-bvsk.html |first=Phillip |last=Coorey |title='Brute' Packer threatened to kill me: Turnbull |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=4 June 2009 }}</ref>}}

Packer was a supporter of [[South Sydney Rabbitohs]] in the [[National Rugby League]] competition.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/business/companies/james-packer-signs-3-million-jersey-sponsorship-deal-with-the-south-sydney-rabbitohs/story-fni0d54u-1226641533928 |title=James Packer signs $3 million jersey sponsorship deal with South Sydney |work=The Daily Telegraph|date=14 May 2013 }}</ref>

He was an advocate of the [[Australian Republic Movement]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/james-packer-donates-250000-to-the-australian-republican-movement-20160908-grc9ys.html |title=James Packer donates $250,000 to the Australian Republican Movement |first=Beau |last=Donelly |date=8 September 2016 |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |access-date=10 September 2016}}</ref>

===Polo===
Packer was a keen [[polo]] player. In 1992, he and [[Gonzalo Pieres Sr.]] founded Ellerstina, a polo team that has claimed multiple titles at the [[Campeonato Argentino Abierto de Polo|Argentine Open]] and other high-handicap tournaments. Packer bought the [[Fyning Hill]] estate in West Sussex and expanded it to over 400 acres. Packer built the headquarters for his Ellerston polo team at Fyning Hill, and would arrive at the estate in May for the three-month English polo season.<ref name="Laffaye2015">{{cite book|author=Laffaye, Horace A. |title=Profiles in Polo: The Players Who Changed the Game|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aRFeCgAAQBAJ|date=28 August 2015|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-6273-2|page=191}}</ref><ref name="Laffaye2009">{{cite book|author=Laffaye, Horace A. |title=The Evolution of Polo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9i-bgOjaVysC|date=29 May 2009|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-5415-0|page=229}}</ref> Packer sold the estate to the Russian businessman [[Roman Abramovich]] in 1999 for {{GBP}}12&nbsp;million.<ref name="Armstrong2010">{{cite book |author=Armstrong, Stephen |title=The Super-Rich Shall Inherit the Earth: The New Global Oligarachs and How They're Taking Over our World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rKKeBAAAQBAJ |date=15 April 2010 |publisher=Little, Brown Book Group |isbn=978-1-84901-441-0|page=33}}</ref>

===Gambling===
Packer was a long-time heavy smoker and an avid gambler, fabled for his large wins and losses.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Club|first=Melbourne Press|title=Kerry Packer|url=https://halloffame.melbournepressclub.com/article/kerry-packer|access-date=2021-08-14|website=MPC - Hall Of Fame|language=en}}</ref> In 1999, a three-day losing streak at London casinos cost him almost A$28&nbsp;million – the biggest reported gambling loss in British history.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gambler Packer loses £13m in 3 days|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/1368368/Gambler-Packer-loses-13m-in-3-days.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/1368368/Gambler-Packer-loses-13m-in-3-days.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=14 August 2021|website=www.telegraph.co.uk|date=31 August 2000 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Once he won A$33&nbsp;million at the [[MGM Grand Las Vegas|MGM Grand Casino]] in [[Las Vegas Strip|Las Vegas]], and he often won as much as A$7&nbsp;million each year during his annual holidays in the UK.<ref>{{Cite web|date=27 December 2005|title=Packer's gambling feats: fact or fiction?|url=https://www.smh.com.au/business/packers-gambling-feats-fact-or-fiction-20051228-gdmozo.html|access-date=2021-08-14|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en}}</ref> Packer's visits were a risky affair for the casinos, as his wins and losses could make quite a difference to the finances of even bigger casinos. Packer was also known for his sometimes volcanic temper—and for his perennial contempt for journalists who sought to question his activities.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2006-11-30|title=How Packer slipped on Fairfax|url=https://www.theage.com.au/business/how-packer-slipped-on-fairfax-20061130-ge3oqq.html|first=Rodney|last=Tiffen|access-date=14 August 2021|website=The Age|language=en}}</ref>

Packer is quoted for an exchange in a poker tournament at the [[The Strat (Las Vegas)|Stratosphere Casino]], where a [[Texas|Texan]] oil investor was attempting to engage him in a game of poker.<ref>{{Cite web|date=28 January 2021|title=Biggest Win in Blackjack ($40 millions!) GamblingBaba|url=https://gamblingbaba.com/news/biggest-blackjack-win-in-known-history/|access-date=14 August 2021|website=GamblingBaba|language=en-US}}</ref> Upon the Texan saying "I'm worth $60 million!", Packer apparently pulled out a coin and asked nonchalantly, "heads or tails?", referring to an A$120&nbsp;million wager (according to [[Bob Stupak]]'s biography). Some variations of the story put the sum at A$60&nbsp;million to A$100&nbsp;million and say the line was "I'll toss you for it".<ref>{{Cite web|date=2006-01-12|title=Kerry Packer, the Texan, the toss and the truth|url=https://www.crikey.com.au/2006/01/12/kerry-packer-the-texan-the-toss-and-the-truth/|access-date=2021-08-14|website=Crikey|language=en-US|archive-date=14 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814022037/https://www.crikey.com.au/2006/01/12/kerry-packer-the-texan-the-toss-and-the-truth/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the late 1990s, he walked into a major London casino and played £15&nbsp;million on four roulette tables on his own and lost it all. This has been confirmed by casino owners in South East England.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Λολα|title=The unbelievable life of Kerry Packer|url=http://www.gambling-stories.com/2015/02/biography-kerry-packer.html|access-date=2021-08-14}}</ref>

Former PGA professional [[John Daly (golfer)|John Daly]] said on the ''[[Nelk#Full Send Podcast|Full Send Podcast]]'' that Packer closed down the [[Desert Inn|Desert Inn Casino]] (which was replaced by the [[Wynn Las Vegas|Wynn Hotel]]) by winning 52 million dollars in one day and insisting they pay him in cash, as the previous day when he lost 8.2 million dollars they insisted he pay them in cash.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.facebook.com/fullsendpod/videos/1148110102502220/ |title=He Won 52 MILLION At The Casino {{!}} He Won 52 MILLION At The Casino 😱 {{!}} By Full Send PodcastFacebook |language=en |access-date=2024-08-30 |via=www.facebook.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHasdFfgBIs |title=IS KERRY PACKER KING OF THE DEGENS ?!?! 🎰🎰🎰#kerrypacker #johndaly #fyp #gambling |date=2023-04-03 |last=Lock Hub |access-date=2024-08-30 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

The [[The Ritz Hotel, London|Ritz Hotel]] in London even had its own room for Kerry Packer. There he was able to play blackjack with a minimum bet of £10,000 per hand. He once lost more than £19 million in this room.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lu |first=Garry |date=2021-08-19 |title=The Outrageous Billionaire Antics Of Kerry Packer |url=https://www.bosshunting.com.au/hustle/billionaire-antics-kerry-packer-stories/ |access-date=2024-08-30 |website=Boss Hunting |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Λολα |title=The unbelievable life of Kerry Packer |url=http://www.gambling-stories.com/2015/02/biography-kerry-packer.html |access-date=2024-08-30}}</ref>

==Failing health==
Packer suffered as many as four [[Heart attack|heart attacks]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-05-02|title=Tall tales and a big vision: Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket 40 years on |first= Andy|last= Bull|url=http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/may/02/the-spin-kerry-packer-world-series-cricket|access-date=14 August 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> In 1990, while playing polo at [[Warwick Farm Racecourse|Warwick Farm]], Sydney, he suffered from a heart attack that left him [[clinical death|clinically dead]] for seven minutes.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Riley|first=Mark|date=2020-10-06|title=From the Archives, 1990: Kerry Packer fights for life after heart attack|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/from-the-archives-1990-kerry-packer-fights-for-life-after-heart-attack-20200930-p560nf.html|access-date=2021-08-14|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en}}</ref> Packer was revived by paramedics and then airlifted to St Vincent's Private Hospital, Sydney, and received [[Coronary artery bypass surgery|bypass surgery]] from [[Victor Chang|Dr Victor Chang]], a pioneering cardiac surgeon. It was not common for an ambulance to have a [[defibrillator]] at the time – it was purely by chance that the ambulance which responded to the call had one fitted.

After recovering, Packer donated a large sum to the [[Ambulance Service of New South Wales]] to pay for equipping all NSW ambulances with a portable defibrillator (colloquially known as "[[Packer Whackers]]"). He told [[Nick Greiner]] "I'll go you 50/50", and the NSW State government paid the other half of the cost. He is reported to have said, "Son, I've been to the other side, and let me tell you, there's nothing there."<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/dec/28/guardianobituaries.cricket Obituary: Kerry Packer] The Guardian. Retrieved on 2018-04-27.</ref> And in a press conference, "...there's no one waiting there for you, there's no one to judge you, so you can [[Nihilism|do what you bloody well like]]".<ref>Carbone, Suzanne, and Lawrence Money (31 August 2009), 
[http://www.theage.com.au/national/hold-on-kerry-it-seems-there-is-something-there-20090830-f3vl.html "Hold on, Kerry. It seems there is something there"], Theage.com.au. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104195828/http://www.theage.com.au/national/hold-on-kerry-it-seems-there-is-something-there-20090830-f3vl.html |date=4 January 2016 }}. Retrieved 20 August 2013.</ref>

He also suffered from a chronic [[kidney]] condition for many years, and in 2000, he made headlines when his long-serving [[helicopter]] pilot, Nick Ross, donated one of his own kidneys to Packer for [[Organ transplant|transplantation]]. The story of the transplant was covered in detail by the Australian TV documentary program ''[[Australian Story]]'', a rare occasion on which Packer granted a media interview (and, to the surprise of many, not to his own network; ''Australian Story'' is produced by the public network, [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]]). After recovering from the operation, Packer launched an organ transplant association in memory of cricketer [[David Hookes]].

==Death==
Kerry Packer died of [[kidney failure]] on 26 December 2005, nine days after his 68th birthday, at home in Sydney, Australia, with his family by his bedside.<ref name="Age-obit"/> Knowing that his health was failing, he instructed his doctors not to treat him with curative intent or by artificially prolonging his life with [[Kidney dialysis|dialysis]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Bhat|first=Devika|title='This is my time' said Packer as he died with dignity|newspaper=[[The Times]]|language=en|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/australasia-travel/australia/this-is-my-time-said-packer-as-he-died-with-dignity-spnl28958h2|access-date=2021-08-14|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> He told his cardiologist earlier in the week that he was "running out of petrol" and wanted to "[[die with dignity]]".<ref name=":0" /> His private funeral service was held on 30 December 2005, at the family's country retreat, [[Ellerston]], near [[Scone, New South Wales|Scone]] in the [[Hunter Valley]].<ref name="ninemsn1"/> Having obtained council permission, he was buried on the Ellerston property near the polo field.<ref>{{cite news|last=McMahon|first=Neil|title=Kerry Packer laid to rest in country he loved|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/kerry-packer-laid-to-rest-in-country-he-loved/2005/12/30/1135915692162.html|newspaper=[[The Age]]|date=31 December 2005}}</ref> It was reported in November 2011, both in the UK and Australia, that the grave was to be marked by a bronze statue of a horse's head by sculptor [[Nic Fiddian-Green]], popularly known as ''Artemis'' but believed reverted to the name Fiddian-Green originally gave it: ''I Look Beyond for a Distant Land''.<ref name="2011-11-05_News">Vaughan, Owen (15 November 2011), [https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/will-this-giant-horses-head-mark-kerry-packers-grave/news-story/66a0268cb68de0f6e439bb84200c4c2e "Will this giant horse's head mark Kerry Packer's grave? -- Towering sculpture of horse's head is coming to Australia after mystery collector bought it to sit at her husband’s graveside"], [[News.com.au]]. Retrieved 15 January 2022.</ref>

=== State memorial service ===
The Packer family accepted an offer of a [[state funeral|state memorial service]], which was held on 17 February 2006 at the [[Sydney Opera House]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2006-01-23|title=Date of Packer state funeral announced|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2006-01-24/date-of-packer-state-funeral-announced/784096|access-date=2021-08-14|website=www.abc.net.au|language=en-AU}}</ref> The granting of this taxpayer-funded honour was criticised by some members of the community, as Packer was notorious for his alleged tax minimisation.<ref name="TWT">{{cite news |url= http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1572604.htm | title = Kerry Packer remembered at state memorial service |last=Trembath |first=Brendan |work=[[The World Today (Australian radio program)|The World Today]] |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=17 February 2006 |access-date =27 April 2011}}</ref> At the memorial service, close friend [[Alan Jones (talkback host)|Alan Jones]] was Master of Ceremonies. The service featured speeches from his son, James; [[Russell Crowe]] on behalf of his daughter, Gretel; the Prime Minister in office at the time, [[John Howard]]; and cricket legend [[Richie Benaud]]. Attendees included [[Tom Cruise]] (a friend of James Packer) and his then-partner [[Katie Holmes]]; [[Greg Norman]]; members of the [[Australian cricket team]]; and past and present figures from all sides of politics.<ref name="TWT"/>

==Philanthropy==
The Kerry Packer Civic Gallery within the [[Bob Hawke]] Prime Ministerial Centre of the [[University of South Australia]] was endowed by the Packer family.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkecentre/Facilities/CivicGallery.asp |title=Kerry Packer Civic Gallery |work=The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre |publisher=[[University of South Australia]] |date=11 October 2007 |access-date=27 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511011010/http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkecentre/Facilities/CivicGallery.asp |archive-date=11 May 2011}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Kerry Packer Foundation]]
* ''[[Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo]]''
* ''[[Howzat! Kerry Packer's War]]''
* ''[[Paper Giants: Magazine Wars]]''
* ''[[Power Games: The Packer-Murdoch War]]''
* [[Super League war]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |first=Paul |last=Barry |author-link=Paul Barry |year=1993 |title=The Rise and Rise of Kerry Packer |publisher=Bantam/ABC Books |location=Sydney |isbn=1-86359-075-7 }}
* {{Cite book |first=Gerald |last=Stone | author-link=Gerald Stone |year=2000 |title=Compulsive Viewing: the inside story of Packer's Nine Network |publisher=Viking |location=Ringwood, Victoria |isbn=0-670-88690-4}}
* {{Cite book |first=Gerald |last=Stone |author-link=Gerald Stone |year=2007 |title=Who Killed Channel 9? |publisher=Pan Macmillan |location=Sydney |isbn=978-1-4050-3815-7 }}
* {{Cite book |first=Mark |last=Westfield |year=2000 |title=The Gatekeepers |publisher=Pluto Press/Comerford and Miller |location=Sydney/London |isbn=1-86403-102-6}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
*[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LROIkCWCB4E/TgjYmVL32FI/AAAAAAAAFCk/q51UyoRmyGU/s1600/kerry-packer-whale.jpg Photo of Kerry Packer]
*[http://www.kerrypacker.com.au KerryPacker.com.au for sale] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405200521/https://www.kerrypacker.com.au/ |date=5 April 2018 }}
* [http://www.mediaman.com.au/profiles/packer1.html Kerry Packer media profile]
* {{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/27/obituaries/27packer.html?ex=1293339600&en=76709588cd2ec1d7&ei=5090 |title=Kerry Packer, 68, Australia's Media Magnate, Is Dead |date=27 December 2005 |work=[[The New York Times]] |first=John |last=Shaw |access-date=7 May 2010}}
* [http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/chip-off-the-old-block/2005/12/30/1135915692196.html 1970s interview on Packer's childhood]
* {{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/cities/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5354247&amp;fsrc=nwl |title=Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer, tycoon and transformer of cricket, died on 26 December, aged 68: Obituary |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=5 January 2006 |access-date=13 January 2012 }}
* {{IMDb name|2042027|Kerry Packer}}

{{World Series Cricket}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Packer, Kerry}}
[[Category:1937 births]]
[[Category:2005 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian philanthropists]]
[[Category:Australian billionaires]]
[[Category:Australian casino industry businesspeople]]
[[Category:Australian cricket administrators]]
[[Category:Australian magazine publishers (people)]]
[[Category:Australian mass media owners]]
[[Category:Australian people of English descent]]
[[Category:Australian racehorse owners and breeders]]
[[Category:Australian republicans]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of Australia]]
[[Category:Deaths from kidney failure in Australia]]
[[Category:Kidney transplant recipients]]
[[Category:People educated at Canberra Grammar School]]
[[Category:People educated at Cranbrook School, Sydney]]
[[Category:People educated at Geelong Grammar School]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Sydney]]
[[Category:World Series Cricket]]
[[Category:Packer family|Kerry]]
[[Category:Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Polio survivors]]
[[Category:Australian film production company founders]]
[[Category:Australian sports owners]]
[[Category:Australian polo players]]