My bipolar disorder made me behave disgracefully, says James Packer

In an extraordinary appearance by video from his $200m super­yacht, James Packer admitted he verbally threatened a businessman.

James Packer, inset, gives evidence via video from aboard his super yacht. Pictures: Supplied/Ella Pelligrini

James Packer has blamed his ­battle with bipolar disorder for engaging in what he admitted was shameful and disgraceful behaviour totally unsuitable for a director of a casino company when he threatened an unnamed businessman over a deal that went wrong in late 2015.

In an extraordinary appearance by video from his $200m super­yacht, Mr Packer answered questions on Tuesday at the inquiry assessing his and Crown ­Resort’s suitability to retain its Sydney casino licence

Speaking of his conduct that was detailed within a confidential email chain relating to a potential $9bn privatisation of Crown ­Resorts, Mr Packer admitted he had verbally threatened the businessman but said he was surprised the threat had made the man fearful of him.

The man, “Mr X”, was the representative of a private equity firm referred to only as “Z Co” that was negotiating a deal with Crown, which never proceeded.

Counsel assisting the inquiry, Adam Bell, asked Mr Packer why the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority could then trust in his “character and integrity” because the email was sent when he was still a Crown director,

Mr Packer replied: “Because I am being treated for my bipolar disease … I was sick at the time.”

His admission is the first time he has used the term “bipolar” to describe his well-publicised mental health struggle that led him to resign from the Crown board in March 2018 after he suffered a third nervous breakdown.

The revelation of the threat in the email chain will go to the ILGA’s assessment of whether he is fit and proper to be a “close ­associate” of Crown’s Barangaroo casino in Sydney, which is scheduled to open in mid-December.

A negative finding against Mr Packer could force him to sell down his 37 per cent shareholding in Crown to a position where he has only a passive interest, below 10 per cent.

The inquiry commissioner, former NSW Supreme Court judge Patricia Bergin, on Friday gave her strongest indication since the inquiry started earlier this year that damning evidence presented to the inquiry about Crown’s risk management, compliance and governance failures could impact its Sydney licence conditions.

Ms Bergin asked Mr Packer on Tuesday whether he accepted “that as a director of a public company, the communications that are in the confidential exhibit were totally unsuitable for the director of a public company as a close ­associate of a licensee of a casino?”

He admitted they were.

In his interrogation of Mr Packer, Mr Bell noted that he had resigned from the Crown board weeks after the threat was made in the email exchange in December 2015, but no mention was made in an ASX announcement of his ill-health.

“I’d hoped it would stay a private matter,’’ Mr Packer ­replied.

Asked by Mr Bell if he was not being truthful with Crown’s shareholders about the reason for his resignation, Mr Packer replied: “There should have been something mentioned in the ­release. I agree.”

Mr Packer earlier told the inquiry that he had been prescribed “strong medication” since 2016 that he believed impaired his ability to recall past events, including those which may have occurred in relation to Crown.

The billionaire acknowledged his memory was “assisted” when he could review documents he wrote or signed himself.

Mr Packer also faced questions from Mr Bell about his association with Arnon Milchan, an ­Israeli Hollywood film mogul and an associate of Israel’s Bureau of Scientific Research, who had introduced Mr Packer to the ­ ­Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

As well as being associated with the weapons-development bureau, Mr Milchan is also a person of interest in a bribery scandal that has examined Mr Packer’s relationship with Mr Netanyahu.

Acknowledging that he and Mr Netanyahu considered each other friends, Mr Packer also recalled that he met with Mr Milchan and a man subsequently associated with Mossad, the ­Israeli secret service, but could not recall whether Mr Milchan had introduced the man to him.

The 2018 biography of Mr Packer’s life, The Price of Fortune: The Untold Story of Being James Packer, refers to the man as Yossi Cohen, who is the current director of Mossad, the national intelligence agency of Israel.

The book detailed that Mr Cohen was set to run a new cybersecurity operation for Mr Milchan’s security business, Blue Sky International, on a salary of $US10 million a year before Mr Netanyahu made him an offer he could not refuse to run Mossad.

Mr Packer also clarified at the inquiry on Tuesday as to why he referred to Mr Milchan ” in the book as “dangerous.

“I would hate to cross him, and he is extraordinarily charming,” he said.

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