Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer

Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer was an Australian media tycoon and business figure who, at the time of his death in 2005, was one of the richest and most influential men in Australia.

Kerry Packer was born December 17, 1937 in Sydney, Australia. He inherited the Australian Consolidated Press (ACP) group from his father, Sir Frank Packer. In the 1977–1978 season he created World Series Cricket, contracting the leading test cricketers for a knock-out series of one-day matches and “Super Tests”, played in colourful costume and often under floodlights, sole television rights for which were held by ACP’s Channel Nine.

This led to disputes with national cricket bodies, and provoked many legal battles, before a modus operandi was established.

He sold Channel Nine to Alan Bond at the height of the 1987 boom for $1 billion, only to buy it back in 1990 for a fraction of that amount.

He has pastoral, mining, manufacturing, and property investments, and was assumed to be the richest person in Australia.

In 1999, he reportedly lost $11 million in a single visit to Crockfords casino in London. He died on December 26, 2005 and was given a state memorial service.