No one had a better year than Trevor St Baker, who earned $166 million from a business deal

A look back at the winners and losers in business across Queensland this year, from the bloke who earned $166 million to the folks who can’t wait to forget 2019

Looking back over 2019, there is really no contest over who deserves the crown for biggest winner.

Brisbane energy titan Trevor St Baker easily snares the gong for pocketing a whopping $166 million windfall from the sale of his ERM Power business.

Shareholders in the firm, launched nearly 40 years ago as a small boutique outfit, did very well out of the deal and overwhelmingly approved the $607 million acquisition by Shell.

Trevor St. Baker

St Baker, still going strong at 80 with a personal fortune approaching $650 million, is now focused like a laser beam on growing a network of recharging stations to service electric cars.

Scott Hutchinson, the building industry supremo and concert-going tragic, dug deep and realised his long-held dream this year to build a replacement for long-gone Festival Hall.

His Fortitude Music Hall in the Brunswick Street Mall, overseen by his Triffid sidekick John Collins, is a brilliant addition to the city’s vibrant music scene and, indeed, now one of the best venues in the country.

Astute property player Andrew King and his gang of silent investors who own the booming Howard Smith Wharves put together the final pieces of the puzzle this year. The swanky Fantauzzo Art Series Hotel threw open its doors beneath the Story Bridge, as did the long-delayed eateries Stanley and Yoko.

The founders of two award-winning craft breweries had their years of toil and sweat equity rewarded when beverage giants bought them out for undisclosed sums certain to be in the mega-millions.

Mick Fanning

Green Beacon co-owners Adrian Slaughter and Marc Christmas did a deal with Asahi after previously knocking back unsolicited offers from parasitic private equity players. Surf pro Mick Fanning and his mates also did very well when CUB gobbled up their Balter Brewing just four years after its launch.

Brisbane tech dynamo Jordan Grives had another cracking year.

The Ferrari-driving young gun entrepreneur offloaded his Fone Dynamics messaging and call analytics business to South Australian internet services provider Uniti Wireless in a deal worth up to $8.4 million. The transaction follows the near $30 million that Grives pocketed in 2016, when he sold his Fonebox enterprise to NASDAQ-listed American internet services firm J2 Global.

The gang at State Gas finally triumphed in a prolonged legal battle against an unwelcome joint venture partner. The court win paves the way for the Brisbane firm to get stuck into developing one of the biggest known, but untapped, natural gas fields in Queensland.

Brisbane cinema identities Peter and Stephen Sourris are also chuffed after a court clash.

After nearly a year of costly legal combat, they struck a settlement deal with a rival operator to allow their planned $10 million redevelopment of the historic Red Hill Skate Arena to proceed as a boutique movie complex with only a minor change.

LOSERS

There were also plenty of players who would rather forget 2019.

No doubt chief among is Peter Carne, the long-serving Public Trustee of Queensland who was suspended in June for “serious allegations that could amount to misbehaviour’’.

Carne has gone to ground since this issue exploded and we’ve heard nary a peep out of him as the Crime and Corruption Commission continues probing the matter.

That hasn’t stopped plenty of leaks from inside the agency, which appears to be a dysfunctional mess with plenty of aggrieved clients, who allege that many estates are managed incompetently and routinely overcharged for services.

Peter Carne

Trevor Jensen and the rest of the board of Brisbane-based Nauru Airlines also had a shocker this year, with a newly-elected island government ousting the lot.

That followed allegations that Jensen, as chairman, had presided over a poisonous corporate culture which prompted an exodus of staff, spent huge sums on fruitless legal actions, filled key positions with longtime business associates and had conflicts of interest.

Jensen denies those claims and maintains he did nothing wrong. But he seems to have sealed his fate when he rocked up to an aviation conference in Sydney and very publicly trashed Nauru as a potential tourist destination, a stunningly tone-deaf error captured on video and now immortalised on Youtube.

Speaking of airlines, formerly bankrupt aviation executive Michael James and his wife, Rachel, continue to feel the heat following the collapse of their online travel booking group Bestjet.

Liquidators of the Brisbane-based company subjected the pair to a public examination in Federal Court in a bid to pick apart its operations, including the flow of money to entities in Singapore controlled by the couple.

Embattled legal eagles David Tucker and Richard Cowen twice failed to have a complex case against them by the liquidator of failed fund manager Equititrust thrown out of Brisbane Supreme Court.

Trevor Jensen

Seeking to recover more than $17.5 million for dudded investors, the liquidator alleges in court documents that Tucker was a central figure in efforts to improperly acquire an outstanding loan book for the rock bottom price of just $2 million and then reap a windfall profit at the expense of shareholders.

Rochelle Courtenay, who founded charity Share The Dignity, made the shortlist of winners for Queensland’s Entrepreneur Of The Year sponsored by accounting mob EY.

But she abruptly pulled out of the awards ahead of a gala dinner after it emerged that she had spent six months in jail in 2010 for defrauding a former employer out of more than $92,000.

The corporate cop swooped on Lyndon Kingston, boss of the Bananacoast Community Credit Union for nearly 10 years before he was fired in late 2017 for “serious misconduct’’ over nearly $3 million in alleged sham payments, kickbacks and bogus expense claims. ASIC charged him with seven offences but he has yet to enter a plea in the case, which returns to court in February.

Plenty of companies had a dreadful year, notably Retail Food Group, Smiles Inclusive and Silver Chef.

For some, it was the end of the road, with CuDeco, Blue Sky Alternative Investments and Little Tokyo Two all falling in a heap.

Lastly, it’s worth remembering that no good deed goes unpunished.

Back in October, Queensland resources billionaire Chris Wallin and his company QCoal tipped in $90 million to save Bounty Mining from collapse, securing a 6.5 per cent stake in the company and two board seats. It didn’t work, with Bounty going to the wall this week.

THAT’S A WRAP.

This is our last column for the year but we’ll be back after Australia Day. Until then, best wishes for the festive season and a happy new year!