Aussie makes waves in Florida with $227m island buy; Potty mouth something to Bragg about

Michael Dorrell has paid $US150m for Palm Beach’s Tarpon Island. Picture: Eagleview

Australian bazillionaire Michael Dorrell has confirmed himself as the mystery buyer of a $US150m ($227m) private island in Palm Beach, Florida, in a set of cheeky remarks provided exclusively to Margin Call that take a friendly swipe at Atlassian billionaires Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brookes.

Dorrell, formerly of Macquarie Bank and later headhunted by Blackstone, is a co-founder of US-based investment group Stonepeak Partners, which launched out of Manhattan in 2011 and made an absolute killing in infrastructure investments ($60bn reportedly under management).

Looks like he accepted the keys to his pile just a few days ago; it’s a 0.8ha estate on Tarpon Island accessible by boat, or by car using a very slim connecting bridge to the outer shaft of old Florida.

Stonepeak Partners co-founder Michael Dorrell.

“It was a national embarrassment that our most expensive real estate until now belongs to those two computer nerds who bought matching homes next door to each other. Someone had to do something about it,” Dorrell said. Farquhar and Cannon-Brookes bought neighbouring homes in the Sydney suburb of Point Piper in 2017 and 2018, respectively, the latter purchase for close to $100m setting an Australian record at the time.

Much as he tried to keep his name out of the press using NDAs and a shell company, Dorrell’s identity as the purchaser was dutifully gossiped out and first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Friday citing sources “familiar with the situation”.

Originally from the Sutherland Shire, in Sydney, this otherwise low-radar chap seems to have an obsession with NRL’s Cronulla Sharks and was given a shoutout last month during the club chairman’s quarterly address. That was for his sizeable generosity, of course. “Mike’s ­financial contribution will involve a five-year donation and we have no doubt he will continue to be a strong supporter of the club for many years to come,” chairman Steven Mace said.

The main features of Dorrell’s pad include a “wellness wing” (gym, hair and nail salon, sauna, etc.) a plunge pool, multi-car ­garage and two private docks. Apparently it’s the biggest residential deal Florida’s seen this year, and possibly the rest of the country, too.

‘I’m real – I swear’

Political snipers trying to eliminate Senator Andrew Bragg have been pushing out kompromat all week in the hope of killing off his chances ahead of Saturday’s ­Liberal Party preselection battle.

None of the material has been all that damaging, but there’s footage that found its way to Margin Call and was just too chuckle-worthy to ignore.

Bragg’s detractors seem to have a trove of out-takes from video messages he’s tried to record for his community.

One snippet published earlier this week showed him flubbing a line on Anzac Day, saying: “On behalf of the people of NSW, I participated in a commemoration of the Anzac heroes this morning, in Double Bay, where I was a c..t, and I couldn’t talk.”

The latest footage was helpfully trimmed to just a few seconds of Bragg performatively losing his shit and stamping both feet and cathartically shouting “f..k youuuuuu” at the camera.

Far less confronting than Kevin Rudd’s seething out-takes from that 2009 recorded message for Chinese New Year, when he blew up like a puffer fish at his staff. As for Bragg, he wasn’t so embarrassed about getting caught in flagrante (hat tip Roy Tillman) using so much blue language. “I’m a real person and I swear regularly. I don’t think it’s a capital offence,” he told Margin Call. And as for the haters?

“If that’s the best they’ve got, I’d be concerned.” And with endorsements from Peter Dutton, Sussan Ley, Jane Hume, Ted O’Brien, Mike Baird, and Josh Frydenberg, he’s probably right.

Hot in the kitchen

Swanky restaurant Nomad Sydney, run by culinary duo Al and Rebecca Yazbek, has been left with a nil-all draw in a landlord dispute that wound up being argued in the NSW Supreme Court. Details published on Friday suggest the barney stemmed from a fire at the restaurant in September 2019; the Yazbeks went about fixing it some months later but building owner Hanave Pty Ltd – directed by Geula and William Burke – objected on the grounds that the Yazbeks’ plans amounted to unauthorised remediation works. If the name Hanave chimes at all it’s because the company owns a tall building nearby that went up in smoke last year and was dubbed a “once in a decade blaze”. Anyway, Hanave sued the restaurant and sought an injunction to stop it from preventing them from coming onto the premises to try to fix the joint themselves – and for Nomad to pay the costs. On and on it went until a hearing in December last year. Justice Mark Richmond dismissed the case on Friday and ordered both sides to pay their own costs, which the Yazbeks had suggested two years ago. Had that occurred, much dosh would have been spared in all this legal runaround, more than enough to buy a few flatbreads and a wood-fired specialty.

Flying options

Pacific National CEO Paul Scurrah gave an interview to our colleague Robyn Ironside hinting at a return to aviation, although he caveated the prospect by saying it would take an “alignment of values” for that sort of revival to work.

Scurrah led Virgin Australia for two years before it was bought out of administration by Bain Capital in 2020; from there he turned up at the rail freight carrier.

Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran. Picture: Getty Images

As for an alignment of values, Scurrah is known to have a healthy relationship with former Virgin director Chris Luxon, previously the CEO of Air New Zealand, and now the country’s recently elected PM. Air New Zealand is 51 per cent-owned by the government (which Luxon runs) and, while there’s no suggestion current CEO Greg Foran is on the way out anytime soon, he is well into his fourth year leading it.

Scurrah has time to serve until he’s released from his Pacific National duties, but if he turns up across the ditch, we’ll all know why!

Comyn’s revelation

And a late turn of events, with Commonwealth Bank’s annual tech briefing placed on hiatus (for retooling) until later this year. That’s after CEO Matt Comyn returned from the US having been somewhat blown away by the potential and promise of artificial intelligence advancements during his meetings with tech company executives, including those from Microsoft, a CBA partner. The software giant held a three-day Build conference that ran heavily with AI content and speakers. A changed man on his return, Comyn’s said rather than a briefing with journalists next week, as had been planned, much better to regroup and schedule something more spectacular for later this year, post-reporting season.