Early life and education

Packer is the son of Roslyn (née Weedon) and the late media mogul Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer, and grandson of media proprietor Frank Packer.

Packer was educated at Cranbrook School in Bellevue Hill, Sydney. After obtaining the Higher School Certificate (HSC) at Cranbrook, he began working at his father's extensive Newcastle Waters cattle station in the Barkly Tableland of the Northern Territory, where he worked as a jackeroo. Packer has stated he did not attend university as he "didn't have the marks".

His mentors, he has said, include his father and Albert J. Dunlap.

Career

Packer is chairperson of Crown Limited, one of Australia's largest entertainment and integrated resort groups. In October 2013, Crown's market capitalisation was over A$11 billion. Every year Crown's Australian resorts attract over 25 million visits. Crown also holds a 33.7 equity interest in Macau based gaming group Melco-Crown (MCE).

In Macau, MCE has two premium properties, City of Dreams and Altira Macau, it operates the Mocha Clubs, and has a 60% equity interest in Macau Studio City, and integrated resort project on Cotai. In the Philippines, MCE, through its 69.3% owned subsidiary, Melco Crown (Philippines) Resort Corporation, has an interest in a consortium that will develop and operate an integrated resort in Manila.

Early internet investments

Following the dotcom crash of 2000-2001, Packer acquired stakes in the online classified sites SEEK and CarSales, believing that newspaper companies relying heavily on classified advertising were vulnerable to online companies in categories including employment and vehicle listings.

Packer purchased a 25 per cent stake in SEEK for A$33 million in August 2003. He sold most of his stake six years later for A$440 million. At Packer's urging, the magazine group then controlled by his family, Australian Consolidated Press, acquired a 41 per cent stake in online advertiser carsales in October 2005. The deal, initially valued at A$100 million, was eventually worth A$462 million to Packer-controlled entities.

Selling Channel Nine

In March 2006, Packer began discussing whether to sell Channel Nine and the Australian Consolidated Press magazine group to help fund his move into the international gaming and tourism business. Given changes in media due to the Internet and pay-TV, Packer was concerned about the future of free-to-air television. On 17 October 2006, Packer's team finalised a deal to sell 50 per cent of the media assets - which also included a 50 per cent stake in web portal ninemsn and a 51 per cent stake in Carsales - to private equity group CVC Asia Pacific for A$4.5 billion, plus an additional billion dollars in equity in the new company, which would be called PBL Media.

In June 2007, Packer sold another 25 per cent share of the joint-venture PBL Media to CVC for $515 million. In October 2008, Packer wrote down his final 25 per cent stake in PBL Media to zero. By the end of 2012, debt from CVC's acquisition had overwhelmed Channel Nine and US hedge funds ousted CVC, taking 100 per cent ownership.

One.Tel

Main article: One.Tel

Packer was a director of Australian Telecommunications company One.Tel, which was declared insolvent during May 2001. The collapse of One.Tel cost PBL A$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. Heaney, and the executive directors of One.Tel."

In April 2014, Lachlan Murdoch and Packer agreed to a A$40 million settlement over the One.Tel failure. The settlement was approved by the Supreme Court of New South Wales on 17 April 2014, with A$14.93 million to be paid by the Packer family's Consolidated Press Holdings, A$11.77 million to be paid by Packer's Crown Resorts and A$13.3 million to be paid by News Corp.

2010s

Crown Resorts

Since his father's death, Packer has moved away from the family's traditional media businesses, and focused on creating a worldwide gambling empire, Crown. Crown is one of Australia's largest entertainment and resort groups. It has businesses and investments in the integrated resort and entertainment sectors in Australia and Macau, and wholly owns and operates a high-end casino in London, Crown Aspinall's. In October 2013, Crown's market capitalization was over $11 billion. Crown's two Australian resorts, Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth, feature over 2,300 hotel rooms, VIP villas, gaming areas, resort pools, luxury spas, signature restaurants and retail, convention centres and live entertainment venues. Every year Crown's Australian resorts attract over 25 million visits. Over one third of Crown's revenue in fiscal 2013 was estimated to be generated from international visitors. The majority of this revenue is from Asian customers. Crown announced investment of over A$2.7 billion between fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2016, to upgrade and open new attractions at its Australian resorts.

In 2009 Crown lost US$250 million in failed casino investment company in the US, Fontainebleau Resorts. Crown also paid US$242 million for a stake in Station Casinos which is now considered almost worthless. Packer has successfully added further gaming assets in Macau, in partnership with Lawrence Ho, the son of Dr. Stanley Ho, through the SEHK and NASDAQ-listed Melco Crown Entertainment (MCE).

As at 30 June 2013, Crown held a 33.7 equity interest in MCE. Crown's initial investment in Melco Crown Entertainment was US$600 million, the market cap of Crown's investment as at 30 October 2013, was US$6.2 billion. At Crown's annual meeting in October 2013 Packer said "Crown's investment through our partnership with Melco International Development has now grown to be one of the largest Australian joint-venture partnerships operating inside China”.

In Macau, MCE has two premium properties, City of Dreams and Altira Macau, it operates the Mocha Clubs, and has a 60% equity interest in Macau Studio City, and integrated resort project on Cotai. In the Philippines, MCE, through its 69.3% owned subsidiary, Melco Crown (Philippines) Resort Corporation, has an interest in a consortium that will develop and operate an integrated resort in Manila.

In 2011, Packer's ASX-listed Crown Limited acquired a 100% interest in the prestigious Aspinall's Club in London, developed through a joint venture between Crown and Packer's family friend, Damian Aspinall, the son of John Aspinall. Crown has since rebranded Aspinall's Club to Crown Aspinall's.

Together with Damian Aspinall, Packer's Crown Resorts holds a 50% equity interest in a group of casino complexes in Great Britain called Aspers, which operate four regional casinos in the United Kingdom, in Newcastle upon Tyne, Stratford, East London, Milton Keynes and Northampton. Packer's bid for a UK "supercasino" based in Cardiff fell through when only one licence was granted to the northern city of Manchester. PBL also owns 50% of the online gambling company Betfair.

Other business activities

Packer purchased an 18% stake in Network Ten in 2010, quickly offloading half to Lachlan Murdoch. Three months later after a dispute with Murdoch over a senior management appointment Packer resigned his Network Ten board seat. There was also speculation that Packer resigned due to a conflict of interest with his interests in Consolidated Media Holdings.

In late May 2011 Packer made a reported A$80 million investment in daily deals sites Scoopon and Catch of the Day through a partnership between his Consolidated Press Holding and several other investors, including Andrew Bassat, a co-founder of Seek.com.au.

In December 2012, Packer and producer-filmmaker Brett Ratner formed a joint venture, RatPac Entertainment. The firm will produce independent films and co-produce big-budget films with a major studio. RatPac and Dune Entertainment formed a film investment vehicle, which in September 2013, entered a multi-year, 75-film co-financing partnership with Warner Bros.

The first film financed by RatPac was a major success. Gravity, a space thriller directed by Alfonso Cuaron and starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, generated the strongest ever October opening in the US and took box office receipts of more than US$100 million in its first five days. "We all know it (producing movies) is a high-risk business and when your first movie starts like this all you can say is 'thank you', Packer said.

In October 2014, Packer bought out Peter Holmes à Court's 37.5% share of the ownership of South Sydney Rabbitohs NRL club, becoming Russell Crowe's partner in the venture.

In December 2014, James Packer signed a deal with Matthew Tripp, which gained Packer control over Tripp's online betting platform - BetEasy.

Wealth

Packer first appeared on various wealth lists in 2006, following the death of his father the previous year and the intergeneration transfer of the bulk of Kerry Packer's wealth to his son, James. James Packer's wealth was valued at A$7.25 billion in 2007, however due to poor investment decisions and falling profits, a television report on 21 June 2007 revealed that Packer had lost in excess of A$1 billion over the previous six months. As a result, the 2008 BRW Rich 200 listed Packer as the third richest person in Australia with a personal wealth of A$6.1 billion, behind Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Andrew Forrest and Westfield Group's Frank Lowy. That was the first time in 21 years that a member of the Packer family had not topped the list. According to BRW, Packer's wealth dipped to an estimated A$3 billion during 2009. In its 2013 BRW Rich 200 list, Packer was ranked third with his wealth estimated at A$6.0 billion, a boost of A$1.1 billion on the previous year. In the 2014 wealth rankings by BRW, Packer's wealth was assessed at A$7.19 billion, making him the third richest Australian. In 2015 BRW Rich 200, Packer's net worth was assessed at A$6.08 billion, making him the seventh richest Australian.

On 18 January 2009, The Sunday Telegraph reported that due to ongoing financial problems, Packer's wealth dropped to under A$3 billion; also reporting that Packer listed for sale his Mangusta yacht and delayed the purchase of a Boeing Business jet. Yet by mid-2010, it was reported that Packer owned a number of assets including Ellerston Z (a superyacht), Arctic P (a luxury cruise ship and former ice-breaker), a private jet, a 12-seater Sikorsky S-76 helicopter, and a variety of cars including an Aston Martin DB9 coupe.

As of January 2016, Forbes magazine estimated Packer's wealth at US$3.5 billion, down from the US$6.60 billion published by Forbes in their 2014 list of the richest people in Australia. In 2015 Forbes list of the 50 Richest Australians, Packer's net worth was assessed at US$4.7 billion, making him the fourth-richest Australian.

Wealth rankings

Year	BRW Rich 200		Forbes Australia's 40 Richest
	Rank	Net worth (AUD)	Rank	Net worth (USD)
2006	7000100000000000000♠1	$7.10 billion	7000100000000000000♠1	$5.20 billion
2007	7000100000000000000♠1	$7.25 billion	7000100000000000000♠1	$5.50 billion
2008	7000300000000000000♠3	$6.10 billion	7000300000000000000♠3	$5.30 billion
2009	7000600000000000000♠6	$3.00 billion	7000100000000000000♠1	$3.10 billion
2010	7000600000000000000♠6	$4.10 billion	7000300000000000000♠3	$3.50 billion
2011	7000800000000000000♠8	$4.16 billion	7000300000000000000♠3	$4.40 billion
2012	7000600000000000000♠6	$5.21 billion	7000400000000000000♠4	$4.50 billion
2013	7000300000000000000♠3	$6.00 billion	7000300000000000000♠3	$6.00 billion
2014	7000300000000000000♠3	$7.19 billion	7000300000000000000♠3	$6.60 billion
2015	7000700000000000000♠7	$6.08 billion	7000400000000000000♠4	$4.70 billion

Personal life

Packer owns residential property in Bondi Beach and in Bellevue Hill, in Sydney's eastern suburbs. The Packer family also have pastoral property holdings in Scone, called Ellerston Station.

On 23 October 1999, he married model Jodhi Meares at Packer's home at Bellevue Hill, Sydney. They separated in June 2002.

In 2002, following the breakdown of his first marriage, and the development of a friendship with Tom Cruise, Packer began attending the Church of Scientology in Australia, taking courses on the Church's Dundas business centre. He subsequently confirmed his involvement with Scientology, saying he had found it "helpful". He later distanced himself from the church.

Packer later married model and singer Erica Baxter, whom he wed in the equivalent of a civil ceremony on 20 June 2007 after dating on and off for four years. The wedding was at the Antibes town hall, and the second ceremony took place at Hotel du Cap - Eden Roc in Cap d'Antibes on the French Riviera. Together, Packer and Baxter have 3 children: daughter Indigo, born 27 July 2008, son Jackson Lloyd, born 1 February 2010, and daughter Emmanuelle Sheelah, born 22 September 2012. In September 2013 James and Erica Packer announced they were separating. The two either were amicably divorced by the end of the year or their divorce still was not finalized as of January 2016 (sources differ).

Packer was involved in a public physical brawl at Bondi Beach in 2014 with David Gyngell, a long-term friend and head of Channel Nine. The fight caused considerable, embarrassing publicity to both parties.

On 21 January 2016, Packer and American singer Mariah Carey became engaged.

Philanthropy

Packer and his family have contributed significantly to the wider Australian community through the family foundation, the Packer Family Foundation Board, which is chaired by his sister Gretel. He also is a major contributor through his majority-holding in Crown Resorts, which he chairs. Crown has its own foundation, the Crown Resorts Foundation, which provides funds to the arts, community welfare, education, health care and the environment. In July 2014 Packer launched a new initiative, the National Philanthropic Fund, to which his family foundation, and the Crown foundation would each contribute $100 million over 10 years to support community projects in Australia.

In July 2014, Packer announced the launch of the National Philanthropic Fund, funded jointly between himself and Crown Resorts, to support education, arts and other projects.

Controversies

In April 2016, James Packer's joint venture with Matthew Tripp, CrownBet pleaded guilty to five counts of breaching laws by publishing illegal betting advertising that offered inducements for NSW residents to gamble. According to NSW Department of Justice, CrownBet "sought to have the matters finalised without conviction in Downing Centre Local Court yesterday but Magistrate Joanne Keogh said convictions were necessary for general deterrence to others in the industry and to protect the vulnerable. CrownBet was convicted of the five offences and ordered to pay a total of $10,500 in fines and also ordered to pay L&GNSW legal costs of $10,000."

[ Source: Wikipedia ]