Kerry Packer

Billionaire Kerry Packer, Australia's richest man who had a heart attack 16 days ago, was in satisfactory condition today after heart bypass surgery. A spokeswoman for St. Vincent's private hospital said Packer, 52, was recovering in intensive care after the "routine" four-hour operation and could be discharged Wednesday. Packer, who owns the country's highest rated television station and its largest magazine empire, wanted details of the operation kept private, she said.

Kerry Packer, 68, Australia's wealthiest man and a media and gambling mogul, died Monday at his home in Sydney, Australia, after a long period of ill health. He had suffered from cancer and had undergone a kidney transplant. Packer was rated by Forbes magazine as the world's 94th richest person. His $5-billion fortune was based partially on his Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd., which owns Nine Network.

Kerry Packer, 68, Australia's wealthiest man and a media and gambling mogul, died Monday at his home in Sydney, Australia, after a long period of ill health. He had suffered from cancer and had undergone a kidney transplant. Packer was rated by Forbes magazine as the world's 94th richest person. His $5-billion fortune was based partially on his Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd., which owns Nine Network.

Robert Clyde Packer, a former magazine publisher and brother of Australia's richest man, has died. He was 65. Packer died Sunday at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, reportedly of heart and lung failure. He was the son of Sir Frank Packer, who built the family's huge media and business empire, Australian Consolidated Press, and was groomed to succeed him. But he fell out with his father over plans for an interview with labor union leader Bob Hawke in 1972 on the family's Channel 9 network.

One is the illegitimate son of a wealthy industrialist. The foundation of another's fortune was a long-ago U.S.-backed loan. A third is a notorious high-stakes gambler liable to risk millions of dollars in a day at the racetrack, while yet another furnishes his house in plastic. A capitalist who backed a revolution is on the list, as is a refugee from communism who is now devoting much of his energy to courting his giant Communist neighbors.

Kerry Packer is an outsize personality, a big, brash man known even in this capital of excess as a ferocious gambler and extravagant tipper who bets--and often wins--dizzying amounts. So when Packer, a burly media tycoon who is one of Australia's richest citizens, lost at the tables here recently, he did that too in almost unbelievably grand style.

Rich Aussies: Meanwhile, the fortunes of "Lethal Weapon 3" star Mel Gibson are rising, literally. The actor has made the list of Australia's richest people with a fortune estimated at $37.5 million. "Thornbirds" author Colleen McCullough's $26.25 million earned her a spot on the list, which was topped by media magnates Kerry Packer ($2.025 billion) and Rupert Murdoch ($1.725 billion).

Rumors Surface of Bid for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer: The Australian Financial Review reported that media magnate Kerry Packer is considering a bid for the ailing studio controlled by Credit Lyonnais Bank. The newspaper reported that Packer and his takeover adviser, David Gonski, "have had extensive discussions with representatives of Credit Lyonnais in the U.S.," but a Credit Lyonnais spokesman said the bank wouldn't comment on rumor and speculation.

Milchan Gets New Backer: Australian businessman and media owner Kerry Packer has agreed to become a major shareholder and investor in Arnon Milchan's Regency Enterprises through Nine Network Australia Ltd., his Australian television company. Packer replaces German media tycoon Bodo Scriba at Regency, though Scriba will continue to co-produce all Regency productions and distribute all Regency products in Germany.

Alan Bond, the Houdini of Australian corporate life, on Thursday escaped from another difficult situation when billionaire Kerry Packer withdrew a takeover bid for the media assets of Bond's crumbling empire. Packer, Australia's richest man, announced that he was pulling the plug on a bid to reclaim the highly successful Channel 9 television network, which Bond bought off him for $750 million ($1 billion Australian) in 1987. Packer's takeover vehicle, Television Corp.

Kerry Packer is an outsize personality, a big, brash man known even in this capital of excess as a ferocious gambler and extravagant tipper who bets--and often wins--dizzying amounts. So when Packer, a burly media tycoon who is one of Australia's richest citizens, lost at the tables here recently, he did that too in almost unbelievably grand style.

One famous man's reportedly huge losses at the gaming tables in Las Vegas are giving an unexpected boost to shareholders of casino giant MGM Mirage. MGM Mirage isn't talking, but reports that Australia's richest man, media tycoon Kerry Packer, supposedly lost $20 million in July while gambling at the company's Bellagio casino had some Wall Street analysts crowing that MGM Mirage has hit a jackpot of its own. The stock (MGG) jumped $1.44 to $35.69 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

Australia is a big country of vast resources and monumental financial moguls. Some of the latter: RUPERT MURDOCH Murdoch, 64, is probably flying somewhere between his homes in New York City, Aspen and a sheep ranch at Yass, near Canberra, Australia's capital. Starting in 1951 with a family inheritance of a tabloid newspaper in Adelaide, Murdoch became not only the dominant newspaper owner in Australia but a media baron in Britain and the United States.

Milchan Gets New Backer: Australian businessman and media owner Kerry Packer has agreed to become a major shareholder and investor in Arnon Milchan's Regency Enterprises through Nine Network Australia Ltd., his Australian television company. Packer replaces German media tycoon Bodo Scriba at Regency, though Scriba will continue to co-produce all Regency productions and distribute all Regency products in Germany.

Rumors Surface of Bid for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer: The Australian Financial Review reported that media magnate Kerry Packer is considering a bid for the ailing studio controlled by Credit Lyonnais Bank. The newspaper reported that Packer and his takeover adviser, David Gonski, "have had extensive discussions with representatives of Credit Lyonnais in the U.S.," but a Credit Lyonnais spokesman said the bank wouldn't comment on rumor and speculation.

Rich Aussies: Meanwhile, the fortunes of "Lethal Weapon 3" star Mel Gibson are rising, literally. The actor has made the list of Australia's richest people with a fortune estimated at $37.5 million. "Thornbirds" author Colleen McCullough's $26.25 million earned her a spot on the list, which was topped by media magnates Kerry Packer ($2.025 billion) and Rupert Murdoch ($1.725 billion).

Australian, Canadian Tycoons Team Up: Australia's richest man, Kerry Packer, has joined a consortium with Canadian newspaper tycoon Conrad Black to bid for John Fairfax Group, Australia's oldest media empire. Fairfax includes the Sydney Morning Herald. But the partners will be battling competing bids from Ireland's Independent Newspapers and Jamison Equity of Australia and a government wary of giving Packer too much control of the country's press.

Australian, Canadian Tycoons Team Up: Australia's richest man, Kerry Packer, has joined a consortium with Canadian newspaper tycoon Conrad Black to bid for John Fairfax Group, Australia's oldest media empire. Fairfax includes the Sydney Morning Herald. But the partners will be battling competing bids from Ireland's Independent Newspapers and Jamison Equity of Australia and a government wary of giving Packer too much control of the country's press.