Kerry Packer - Personal Life

Personal Life

His primary schooling suffered greatly when he was stricken with a severe bout of poliomyelitis at age eight, and he was confined to an iron lung for nine months. His father apparently thought little of his son's abilities, once cruelly describing him as "the family idiot", although Kerry subsequently steered PBL to heights far beyond anything his father or brother achieved. This nickname his father gave Kerry made him strive to new heights in schooling, trying to achieve "A" grades, his end of year report said he was one of the most notable students. In an interview, former employee Trevor Sykes stated that " He didn't read much on the printed page. If you didn't want Kerry to read something, you wrote more than a one-page memo.".

Packer's grandfather Herbert Bullmore represented the Scotland national rugby union team in an international match against Ireland in Dublin in 1902 and worked as a doctor in Sydney for many years.

Kerry Packer and his wife of 42 years, Roslyn Packer, AO (nee Weedon), had two children, a daughter Gretel (born 1966), and a son James. At the time of Packer's death, he and Ros had two grandchildren, Francesca then 10, and Ben, then 7, from Gretel's first marriage to British financier Nick Barham, and Gretel and her husband Shane Murray were expecting their first child together, William (born 2006). Gretel and Shane married just before Packer's death.

Packer was a keen polo player, a longtime heavy smoker and an avid gambler, fabled for his titanic wins and losses. In 1999, it was reported that a three-week losing streak at London casinos cost him almost A$28 million—described at the time as the biggest reported gambling loss in British history.

The same report stated that he had once won A$33 million at the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas and that he often won as much as A$7 million each year during his annual holidays in the UK. Packer's visits were a risky affair for the casinos, as his wins and losses could make quite a difference to the finances of even bigger casinos. Packer was also known for his sometimes volcanic temper, and for his perennial contempt for journalists who sought to question his activities.

Packer is famously quoted for an exchange in a poker tournament at the Stratosphere Casino, where a Texan oil investor was attempting to engage him in a game of poker. Upon the Texan saying "I'm worth $60,000,000!" Packer apparently pulled out a coin and asked nonchalantly, "heads or tails?", referring to a A$120 million wager (according to Bob Stupak's biography). Some variations of the story put the sum at A$60 million to A$100 million and claim the line was "I'll toss you for it".

In the late 1990s it is reported that he walked into a major London casino and played £15 million on four roulette tables on his own and lost it all. He subsequently simply walked out of the casino with no regrets. This has been confirmed by casino owners in South East England.

Packer is known to have conducted extra-marital affairs with a number of women including the late model Carol Lopes—who reportedly committed suicide after being shunned by Packer—publisher and former ConPress employee Ita Buttrose, and Julie Trethowan, his long-time mistress and manager (from 1983) of the Packer-owned Sydney city health and fitness club, the Hyde Park Club. After his death, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that from about 1995, Packer transferred control of multi-million-dollar Sydney real estate holdings to Trethowan.

In June 2009 the Sydney Morning Herald reported that former Federal Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull – a former legal adviser and business associate of Packer – revealed to journalist Annabel Crabb that Packer had threatened to have him killed when they fell out over their 1991 attempt to take over the Fairfax newspaper group through their Tourang consortium. Mr Packer reportedly made the threat after Turnbull told Packer he was going to have him thrown out of the consortium by revealing Packer's intention to play an interventionist role in the newspaper group.

"He told me he'd kill me, yeah. I didn't think he was completely serious, but I didn't think he was entirely joking either. Look, he could be pretty scary. He did threaten to kill me and I said to him: 'Well, you'd better make sure that your assassin gets me first because, if he misses, you better know I won't miss you.' He could be a complete pig, you know. He could charm the birds out of the trees, but he could be a brute."