James Packer, billionaire in retreat after series of crises

When James Packer was photographed in St Tropez last month he looked like he was enjoying a short holiday. But the billionaire’s resignation from all 24 of his Australian directorships, revealed this week, has led some investors to question whether he will ever return to lead a family business empire that dates back almost a century.

Mr Packer has endured a succession of personal and business crises in recent years. Last summer 19 employees of Crown Resorts, the listed casino business he controls, were convicted in China for “gambling-related offences”. In 2016 he finally settled an expensive and at times acrimonious negotiation with his sister Gretel to divide the Packer family fortune, and his 18-month engagement to US pop star Mariah Carey broke down.

Colleagues say stress has taken a toll on the 50-year-old, who resigned in March from Crown’s board because of “mental health issues” before checking into one of America’s top psychiatric facilities, accompanied by his mother Ros.

“It appears Mr Packer is stepping back for health reasons,” says Angus Gluskie, managing director of White Funds Management, a Crown investor. “It’s definitely a change because for decades you’ve had a strong family personality at the helm of these businesses.”

Over recent weeks Mr Packer has quit all his Australian directorships, including Consolidated Press Holdings, the private investment vehicle through which he holds his near 50 per cent stake in Crown. However, he remains a director of CPH International, the group’s holding company based in the Bahamas, and colleagues insist he is not retiring.

“James remains extremely involved at CPH,” one colleague told the Financial Times. “He leaves the day-to-day operations . . . but he is still calling the shots.”

Mr Packer was ranked Australia’s eighth-richest person last year, with a $3.7bn fortune, according to Forbes. But his opulent lifestyle, friendships with Hollywood celebrities including Brad Pitt and Robert De Niro, and his aggressive approach to business have kept him in the media spotlight for most of his life.

One person who knows Mr Packer well said he lived “in a goldfish bowl” in Australia, which is one the reasons he relocated to the US.

He is the son of the late Kerry Packer, a flamboyant businessman who built a media empire and revolutionised sports broadcasting by creating World Series Cricket in the 1970s. Kerry’s father Frank and grandfather Robert were also media proprietors.

James idolised his father and is still seeking to prove himself a worthy successor, according to family friends, who say he has inherited Kerry’s appetite for risk. Other commentators say the relationship between father and son was difficult. Paul Barry, a biographer of both, alleged that Kerry had often derided James as “too soft” and a “loser”.

“He’s a touch paranoid, he’s got a temper, he has trouble controlling his weight, he has trouble giving up smoking, and he’s driven by a desire to match or outdo his father, to impress his father to gain his respect,” Mr Barry said at the launch of his book Who Wants to Be a Billionaire: The James Packer Story.

People who have worked with Mr Packer say he does not take criticism well, suffers mood swings and has a volatile personality. In 2014 he was filmed in a fight outside his Sydney home with his best friend, David Gyngell. In an interview with the Australian newspaper in December, Mr Packer said the biggest regret of his life was letting his second marriage to Erica fail.

The recent trouble in China is not Mr Packer’s first business crisis. In the late 1990s and early 2000s he spearheaded the family’s investment in One.Tel, an Australian telecoms company that collapsed during the dotcom crash, costing the Packers hundreds of millions of dollars. He also lost heavily when he mistimed his casino business’s expansion to Las Vegas in 2007 just before the financial crisis.

But on both occasions Mr Packer bounced back. His decision to sell most of the media businesses inherited from his father and build Crown into Australia’s biggest casino operator proved timely, as the media businesses have lost value as digital newcomers have disrupted the sector.

Mr Packer also scored a success by persuading authorities to allow Crown to build a second Sydney casino — a multibillion-dollar harbour project scheduled to open in 2021. What role Mr Packer will play in it will depend on his recovery and his ambition to lead his business.

One friend and former business colleague Andrew Bassat, has few doubts. “I spent some time with James a month ago and he was sharp and looking good. He has great vision and tremendous business acumen. I’ve no doubt he will come back stronger than ever,” he said.