James Packer Net Worth, Achievements & Personal Life

James Packer Net Worth  $4 Billion

The son of media tycoon Kerry Packer and his wife Roslyn Redman Packer, the Australian businessman and billionaire James Packer is currently one of the wealthiest persons in Australia.

A grandson of Sir Frank Packer, he inherited his family’s fortune after his father’s death and took over Consolidated Press Holdings Limited.

He was the former executive chairman of Crown Resorts Limited and was the genius behind the operations of the company.

Known for his methodical approach to business as well as for his business acumen, this investor has made several investments in a number of companies and organizations outside of his family’s business.

He is the former executive chair of Consolidated Media Holdings and also maintained a similar position at Publishing and Broadcasting.

In spite of all that he has accomplished in the business world, his personal life has been nothing other than tumultuous. He has been battling depression for years and has suffered three nervous breakdowns.

He is also noted for his involvement with many female celebrities, including American singer Mariah Carey. More on his life story and career success are available in the next paragraph.

Early Life: Childhood & Education

Packer was born in Sydney, Australia on 8 September 1967. His father was Kerry Packer, a media mammoth who controlled a vast empire before his passing.

His mother was a philanthropist named Roslyn Redman Packer. Packer’s grandfather was Sir Frank Packer, the media businessman, and proprietor who owned the Nine Network and Australian Consolidated Press.

He also has a sister named Gretel Packer, who is a renowned philanthropist in Australia.

For his studies, Parker attended Tudor House School in Moss Vale in New South Wales. He also studied at Cranbrook School in Bellevue Hill in Sydney.

Professional Life: Inheritance & Businesses

Once he had completed his high school education, James Packer joined his father’s ranch to work as a jackaroo, taking care of the cattle in the Barkly Tableland of the Northern Territory.

His father believed that working on the farm would equip James with the skills he needed to survive in the world of business, as those weren’t taught in Universities.

After taking care of his father’s livestock for a few years, James left Australia for London to learn under the mentorship of turnaround management specialist Albert J. Dunlap.

He also had a stint at the NM Rothschild investment bank in London and later returned to Sydney where he joined the advertising department at Consolidated Press.

Being born into wealth and opportunity, James Packer’s life path had been predetermined. He was expected to take care of his family’s business and follow in his father’s footsteps in the business world.

In 1994, he became the chief executive of Australian Consolidated Press and director of Nine Network, both owned by his family.

After serving at the group for four years, his father Kerry Packer appointed him as the executive chairman of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBS).

In 1999, Publishing and Broadcasting Limited invested in the One Tel telecommunication company. The company became one of the largest telecommunications companies in Australia before collapsing in 2001.

In August 2003, he purchased a 25 percent stake in SEEK for A$33m. Seeing that his investment in SEEK was making gains, he led the magazine group Australian Consolidated Press (ACP) then controlled by his family to acquire a 41 percent stake in Carsales.com in October 2005.

He later sold his investment in SEEK for an enormous profit of $440m.

His father Kerry Packer passed away on December 26, 2005, James inherited the control of the Publishing and Broadcasting Company.

By 2006, he wanted to branch into other business avenues and decided to sell 50 percent of his media assets, which included a 51 percent stake in Carsales and a 50 percent stake in the website Ninemsn, to a private equity firm CVC Asia Pacific for approximately A$4.5 billion.

He sold 25 percent of his share of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited Media to CVC group for $515 million by June 2007 and by 2008, he wrote down his final 25 percent stake in Publishing and Broadcasting Limited Media to zero.

In 2013, he and Brett Ratner co-founded the film production company Ratpac Entertainment.

He had already set his eyes on starting his own businesses outside his family’s media business. He ventured into the gaming and entertainment field and established a global gambling empire, Crown Resorts Limited, in 2007.

He mainly focused on making Crown Resorts the biggest name in tourism and gaming.

The company has various investments in the resort and casino sector in Australia and Macau, and mainly owns and runs high-end entertainment and casino centers in London, Melbourne, and Perth.

By October 2017, Crown Resorts’ market capitalization was over $8 billion. Its Melbourne and Perth venues attract over 31 million visits annually.

The company has been aggressively expanding and has invested billions of dollars to open new attractions.

James Packer stepped down from his role as executive chairman of Crown Resorts in 2018, citing his deteriorating physical and mental health issues.

Personal Life: Family, Relationships, Private Interests

Mr. Packer has always been in the public eye either for his aggressive business strategies or his downward-spiraling personal life.

He was once engaged to actress Kate Fischer for two years until they separated in 1998. The following year, he married model and TV star, Jodhi Meares. They stayed together in matrimony for two years and separated in 2002.

On 20 June 2007, he married singer, Erica Baxter. They had three children, Indigo, Jackson Lloyd, and Emmanuelle Sheelah, before separating in 2013, following reports linking the businessman to actress Charlotte Kirk.

In January 2016, he engaged American singer Mariah Carey. However, their relationship didn’t last a year before ending bitterly. He reportedly paid a settlement of 50 million dollars to Carey as an ‘inconvenience fee’ when their engagement failed.

James Packer Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Assets

The Australian investor and entrepreneur James Packer is said to currently own net worth of over $4 billion.

After inheriting the media investment company Consolidated Press Holdings Limited from his father, he moved on to focus his attention on the booming gaming and gambling industry, where he eventually achieved his personal breakthrough away from his family’s business.,

James Douglas Packer’s personal life has been nothing other than tumultuous. One of Australia’s top 50 billionaires, this businessman is known for his many episodes in the media either for dating high-profile women or for calling off marital plans.

His luxurious living is also not hidden. He has a 12-seater Sikorsky S-76 helicopter and also his own private jet, in addition to a superyacht Ellerston Z, a luxury cruise ship Arctic P, and several exotic vehicles, including an Aston Martin DB9 coupe.