Kerry Packer is dead. With one of the media giants now a supernova, how long will the current center of gravity hold? Interesting times ahead for cross media issues and for PBL/Nine.
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Bet the Scientologists are carousing wildly…..
Does this mean the Bully will close?
No, it’ll be bought out by Text media - Stephen Mayne will be appointed editor where his first job will be to fire Tim Blair and turn it into a subdomain of Crikey……
all those billions didn’t go with him!
Droll!
Well said Naomi.
Packer’s passing will surely be a Tsunami on the Australian Media Scene.
Interesting that two years in a row the biggest story of the year has occurred in the last few days of the year.
I daresay Helen Coonan would be recieving a lot of phone calls today!
Kerry Packer rubbed some people up the wrong way but, for all his faults, he had character. Most modern corporate suits are either fairly grey or, if interesting, crooked.
His political opinions were generally moderate. And he did not generally inject them into his publications.
I doubt whether his death will have much impact on media organization or concentration. The trends in the media industry are driven by massive changes in innovations and institutions that far outweigh the fortunes of one man.
The best thing about him was his committment to living longer. And his contributions to organizations that furthered that cause for himself and others. Its a pity that this is the one business venture that he did not succeed in.
Naomi said, ” Crikey said they were off for holidays and wouldn’t come back unless something really big happened.”
Yep I’m waiting to see if there is a special edition of Crikey. Stephen Mayne would not (could not) have missed the opportunity. It will be interesting to see if Beecher, Gribble et al respond to the occasion.
Don’t know what other web browsers may use for a heading, but on Firefox this item is titled ‘Packer Dead at Larvatus Prodeo’. So when are you inviting Rupert over?
Media buyer Harold Mitchell is already running a bit of spin and interference for James.
Yeah right, and don’t tell me, he has everyone’s full support……..I think we’ll hear a lot of this over the next few weeks until……..
Perhaps in response to my earlier comment, a special edition of Crikey has arrived seconds ago, now to read it and see if it tries to analyse the outcome of Kerry’s departure.
A worthwhile read is the book ‘The Rise and Rise of Kerry Packer’. I was much more favourably inclined to the patriach Frank Packer who at least had a well developed sense of humour.
Interviewer: ”Mr Packer, what gives you the notion that you can win the America’s cup?”
F.P: ”Alcohol and delusions of grandeur.”
On losing the America’s cup with Gretel II and swiping at American refusal to allow use of the then new US sail fabric:
”If ever I win this cup, I’m going to make them use f…ing kangaroo skins for sails.”
Frank Packer’s nickname for son Kerry in earlier days was ”boofhead” BTW, but I suppose if he had seen Kerry’s financial success he would have changed his opinion but may well have told us us all he thought Alan Bond was the generous contributor to the Kerry Packer empire.
Going by the One-tel stuff up one can only ponder how James will perform, the history of Warwick Fairfax springs readily to mind.
Quite liked this, though, Naomi:
Frank Packer made the money ( red Ted was there) , Kerry increased it as second generations usually do however third gerneration usually fritter it away.
james given his Onetel experience may well do this.
Kerry preferred to be a big frog in a small pond.
Rupert wanted to be a big frog in the world pond
Best book bar none on the history of the Packers and their competitors is Bridget Griffen Foley’s Party Games (Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2003).
I’m sad to see the end of an era for Australian capitalism. I for one have a fondness for charming outright plutocrats over abstracted corporations. When was the last time you heard of a listed superannuation company dropping a couple of mil at blackjack?
Vale Kerry Packer.
Good grief.
Excuse me. Wrong Griffen-Foley book. Make that Griffen-Foley, Bridget. House of Packer, Allen & Unwin, 1999.
Well sorry, I for one will cry no crocodile tears for Packer,on a lighter note I would love to see Mayne fire Blair just to be there ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
http://www.smh.com.au/cartoons/index.html
Moir does it nicely. Have you noticed that nobody is offering to pray for the man! When he really needs it. Open your eyes Kerry, you are now a babe in the woods.
I’ve noticed a change already, there seems to be a certain lightness about. A bit less of the same old same old.
“When was the last time you heard of a listed superannuation company dropping a couple of mil at blackjack?”
The Seven Network superannuation fund back in the days of Christopher Skase, when they invested more than 30% of the fund’s assets in Qintex. But then I suppose it wasn’t listed. Blackjack would at least have given the members a sporting chance!
Don’t write off Jamie yet, Homer. Forecasting is a hazardous game. All the financial papers today were forecasting an 8 to 10% drop in PBL shares today; last time I looked at Comsec (within the last half-hour) they were down less tha 1.5%.
By the way, Mark, it’s no surprise that Packer didn’t believe in free enterprise. All businessmen are protectionists - they have that in common with unions. That doesn’t mean that free enterprise isn’t the best way to run an economy (and a society) - it’s a government’s job to see that it prevails. Few have done so, including Keating who gave plenty of businessmen (including Packer) uncompetitive advantages. The Howard government certainly has plenty of faults also in this regard.
Yes, Link, a good cartoon. Notice the eight dots in the Nine logo? Does that mean $7 billion with eight wickets in hand?