James Packer biography ‘The Price of Fortune’ launch
JAMES PACKER talks to ex-wife Erica several times a day and describes first wife Jodhi Meares as an “incredibly valuable friend”. Details of his failed engagement to pop diva Mariah Carey are also outlined in a biography on the billionaire by journalist Damon Kitney.
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POP diva Mariah Carey was poised to accept $7 million to walk away from her engagement to James Packer but upped her claim to $70 million after accusing him of leaking settlement details.
“I had absolutely nothing to do with the story,” Mr Packer declared in a new biography. The pair reached a settlement last year.
The breakup came as Mr Packer’s life spun out of control, culminating in his third nervous breakdown.
Staff of Mr Packer’s Crown Resorts company were jailed in China, he’d been caught up in a corruption investigation involving his friend Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and he was negotiating a split of assets with his sister Gretel.
The book, by journalist Damon Kitney, revealed Hollywood actor Warren Beatty was one of the few to support Mr Packer.
“By the time the Israel so-called Case 1000 had become public, the China arrests and Crown’s sale of Macau had occurred and the breakup with Mariah had happened, I had become toxic,” Mr Packer said in The Price Of Fortune: The Untold Story Of Being James Packer.
“The phone stopped ringing and people were out when I called them. There were, of course, a few exceptions. Every month or so Warren would ring. And apart from my kids, he was the only person I travelled to LA to see,” Mr Packer said.
The book also revealed negotiations between Mr Packer and sister Gretel over the split of their father Kerry’s estate became so poisonous he threatened to hire security for the family’s Hunter Valley estate Ellerston to prevent her from using it.
In the final $1.25 billion settlement, Ms Packer paid about $90 million for 100 per cent control of Ellerston. But Mr Packer told his biographer the pair had since reconciled.
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The book was launched in Sydney yesterday, at a function attended by a range of high-flyers including News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller, chairman of the Herald & Weekly Times Penny Fowler and Mr Packer’s first wife, former model turned fashion designer Jodhi Meares.
Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes told the gathering that Mariah Carey’s team was furious after he took control of Mr Packer’s affairs in 2016 to stop the wedding and closed off the tab — including sending Mr Packer’s jet for maintenance so they couldn’t use it.
Asked how he has stayed friends with both his former wives, Mr Packer said he spoke to Erica, the mother of his children several times a day.
He said he did not blame Ms Meares for leaving their marriage. “She has been an incredibly valued friend to me.”