The richest man in the country, media mogul Kerry Packer, has died in Australia. The owner of the continent's largest information empire was a passionate gambler. He holds not only the record loss in the American Las Vegas - 20 million dollars for the weekend, but also the biggest loss in the history of Great Britain - 13 million pounds.
At the same time, Parker also left the biggest tip - the waitress, frustrated by the inability to repay the loan for the house, received 250 thousand pounds from the Australian.
According to legend, Kerry Packer's passion for the game was passed on to him from his grandfather, who found 10 shillings and, putting them on the races, hit the jackpot. There was enough money to move from England to Australia, where he got a job in a publishing house.
Continuing the work of his grandfather and father, Kerry Packer founded the largest information empire in Australia Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL), which included half of all magazines published in the country, including the popular women's magazine Belle and the most widely read newspaper in Australia Sydney's Daily Telegraph, as well as the largest television channel. Nine Network.
The most successful deal Kerry Packer considered the sale in 1987 to businessman Alan Bond of two of his TV channels for one billion Australian dollars (about 750 million US dollars). As the agency France Presse writes, it was much more than the channels actually cost. Moreover, three years later, Bond was forced to sell the channels back to Packer - but for a quarter of the price.
Packer was prevented from monopolizing the Australian media market by the country's parliament. In the early 1990s, he was planning a deal to acquire the FairFax newspaper group, which would allow him to control nearly 80% of the media market. But parliamentarians blocked the deal.
Kerry Packer was not only the richest man in Australia. Forbes magazine included him in the list of the 100 richest people in the world with a fortune of $ 5 billion (94th place). But beyond the media business, Kerry Packer was a passionate player. He himself, in addition to the media corporation, owned the largest casino in Melbourne Crown, the gambling house Burswood in Perth and a network of casinos in the Chinese territory in Macau. And this summer, Packer's company received a license to open a casino complex in Wales.
Naturally, Packer did not play in his own gambling houses. He preferred to do it in England or the USA. They say that in Las Vegas over the weekend, the Australian tycoon spent $ 20 million, which was the biggest loss in the history of the legendary city. In England, he could easily buy £ 250,000 chips and give them to friends just as easily if he didn't want to play anymore.
Kerry Packer's second passion in life was playing cricket and then polo. Since the late 1970s, he even organized a parallel national cricket championship, popular in Australia. Packer is considered one of the popularizers of this sport in the world - he broadcast his own cricket championships on his channels.
And equestrianism almost cost the tycoon his life: in 1990, while playing, he suffered a heart attack. As reported by the France Presse agency, the arriving doctors even stated his death - the rich man's heart did not beat for six minutes. “I've seen the other side of life- Packer will say later in one of his few interviews, - There is no God, no devil either ".
In 2000, Kerry Packer underwent kidney transplant surgery. According to AFP, the donor was a personal pilot and friend of the rich man Nick Ross.
Kerry Packer died at his home in Sydney at the age of 68. According to the British Air Force, the exact cause of his death is not yet clear, but it is possible that he had cancer. "He died peacefully, at home, next to his family.", - says the message of his wife.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard expressed condolences over the death of Packer, calling him a great man who "was more alive than all the living."
Source Business newspaper VZGLYAD
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