From Packer to Rio Tinto: Margin Call’s business quiz 2016
It was a wild year to remember in business and politics, with corporate collapses and controversial romantic liaisons competing with election surprises for our attention. Test your knowledge of the year’s big stories in our annual quiz.
1 In February, James Packer renegotiated a split of the family’s assets with sister Gretel. As a result, she received shares in which dot.com?
a) Real estate play Zillow
b) Social media play Billow
c) Sleepwear e-commerce play Pillow
d) Cricket bat delivery play Willow
2 In which city does James Packer live?
a) Sydney
b) Los Angeles
c) Las Vegas
d) Tel Aviv
3 How many times has James Packer been engaged?
a) One
b) Two
c) Three
d) Four
4 Which Packer lieutenant drew up the pre-nup for Mariah Carey that was sadly never required?
a) Ashok Jacob
b) Mark Arbib
c) Peta Credlin
d) Rob Rankin
5 In July trucking magnate Lindsay Fox partied for a fortnight on the Mediterranean alongside fellow billionaires Andrew Forrest, Gina Rinehart and Solomon Lew to celebrate what?
a) His 70th birthday
b) His 75th gallstone removal
c) The 80th anniversary of his conception
d) His 80th birthday
6 In June, where did Sydney celebrity PR Roxy Jacenko tell her children stockbroker husband Oliver Curtis had gone when he was sent to prison in Cooma for insider trading?
a) China
b) Cootamundra
c) Coolangatta
d) Cooma
7 Samuel Davide Hains — the Melbourne hipster The Age put on its front page before realising it had been hoaxed by freelancer Tara Kenny — is the grandson of billionaire David Hains. But which television star is his mother?
a) Gayle Blakeney, who wore a bikini on Neighbours
b) Jane Badler, who ate a rat on V
c) Jeri Ryan, who was a cyborg on Star Trek: Voyager
d) Catherine Bach, who wore short shorts on Dukes of Hazzard
8 How much in losses and write-downs did Woolworths and its JV partner Lowe’s rack up in Masters?
a) $1 billion
b) $2 billion
c) more than $3 billion
d) NASA is still computing the final figure
9 A big hit in department store Myer’s Christmas range has been personalised jars of Nutella. How many of the jars did Myer sell last Christmas?
a) 450,000
b) 300,000
c) 250,000
d) 100,000 (50,000 bought by Clive Palmer)
10 Private equity firm Anchorage bought Dick Smith from Woolworths in 2012 for $94m and floated it 15 months later for how much?
a) $200 million
b) $400 million
c) $520 million
d) a nod and a wink
11 Archer Capital boss Peter Wiggs was asked if he was concerned the collapse of Dick Smith would hurt the private equity industry’s reputation. In response he said:
a) “Who cares?’’
b) “My LPs (limited partners) don’t care, my advisers don’t care, I certainly don’t care.’’
c) “The financial press just loves bad news.”
d) all of the above
12 Retail billionaire Solomon Lew tried — and failed — to stop the CFO of his Just Group, Nicole Peck, defecting to a rival. Which one?
a) Cotton On
b) Sussan
c) David Jones
d) Myer
13 At which bank anniversary lunch did Malcolm Turnbull take the industry to task over misconduct?
a) ANZ
b) CBA
c) Westpac
d) NAB
14 After admitting he hadn’t answered a shareholder’s question, which bank chairman was speechless after the shareholder responded: “Darling, we can frack later”?
a) David Gonski
b) Ziggy Switkowski
c) David Turner
d) Ken Henry
15 In October’s parliamentary examination of the bank bosses, which CEO was picked out for failing to apologise to customers in his evidence:
a) Ian Narev
b) Andrew Thorburn
c) Shayne Elliott
d) Brian Hartzer
16 Which member of the committee sat for a time on the board of Mark Bouris’ troubled Yellow Brick Road?
a) David Coleman
b) Matt Thistlethwaite
c) Julia Banks
d) Matt Keogh
17 Labor’s Matt Thistlethwaite asked ANZ boss Shayne Elliott about $1bn the bank loaned to Indian business couple Pankaj and Radhika Oswal. Elliott said the loans were:
a) A mistake
b) Part of normal banking business
c) A decision made in a different business environment
d) A decision made by previous boss Mike Smith
18 The Oswals sued the ANZ for selling their fertiliser business at a discount, claiming between $1.5bn and $2.5bn. How much did they settle for in October?
a) Nothing — both sides walked away
b) $50m
c) $200m
d) $1bn
19 Radhika Oswal gave evidence during the trial, but it was never tested because the case settled. What did she not say during her evidence?
a) Her husband Pankaj had forged bank guarantees
b) ANZ chief risk officer Chris Page physically grabbed Pankaj during a meeting
c) ANZ chief legal officer Bob Santamaria said the couple would go to jail and their children would be orphans if she did not give the bank security over her stake in the fertiliser plant
d) None of the above — she said all those things
20Which life insurer was revealed to be knocking back 37 per cent of total and permanent disability claims?
a) Westpac’s BT Financial
b) CBA’s CommInsure
c) ANZ’s OnePath
d) NAB’s MLC
21Which life insurance company sacked its chief medical officer amid allegations he made that the company was pressuring doctors to deny claims?
a) CommInsure
b) BT Financial
c) ANZ’s OnePath
d) MLC
22 In April, ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft’s term was extended. How much extra time did Mr Medcraft get?
a) A year
b) 18 months
c) Two years
d) Three years
23 Which of the following magazines didn’t close this year?
a) Dolly
b) Cleo
c) Zoo
d) Bride To Be
24 This month, the editor-in-chief of The Age resigned over sexual harassment allegations. On what day did Fairfax announce his appointment to the gig?
a) June 30, last year
b) April Fools Day this year
c) Boxing Day last year
d) January 12
25 In September, The Australian’s owner, News Limited, got the green light to sell WA’s Sunday Times to which media empire?
a) Bruce Gordon’s WIN
b) Eric Beecher’s Private Media
c) Hugh Marks’ Nine Entertainment
d) Kerry Stokes’ Seven West
26 Stokes’ former employee Amber Harrison claims Seven wanted her to do something with her mobile phone as part of a settlement agreement over an affair with the TV network’s wild man boss Tim Worner. Seven denies this. What was it?
a) Detonate it
b) Torch it
c) Keep it
d) Donate it to charity
a) Nick Falloon
b) Sandra McPhee
c) Todd Sampson
d) Jack Cowin
28 Music streaming company Guvera tried to list on the ASX in an IPO that would have valued it at more than $1bn. According to its prospectus, what was its result for the 2014-15?
a) $21.5m profit
b) $78.8m loss
c) $104m loss
d) $221m loss
29 Google pulled the pin on its modular phone project in 2016. What was the project called?
a) Project Phoenix
b) Project Pixel
c) Project Ara
d) Project Connector
30 Who won the 2016 Pearcey Award presented for outstanding achievement in IT?
a) Melanie Perkins
b) Steve Baxter
c) Mike Cannon Brookes
d) Simon Hackett
31 Which tech giant did Michelle Guthrie work for before becoming boss of the ABC?
a) Google
b) Amazon
c) Uber
d) Facebook
32 According to leaked financials, Uber is on track for what financial result this year?
a) $US3bn loss
b) $US1bn loss
c) Break-even
d) $US1bn profit
33 Which Facebook board member has become a key member of Trump’s transition team?
a) Elon Musk
b) Peter Thiel
c) Hulk Hogan
d) Mark Zuckerberg
34 Which mobile app broke the record for most downloads in its first month?
a) Super Mario Run
b) Donkey Kong Jr
c) Pokemon Go
d) Microsoft Word
35 Which tech giant exposed the personal data of 1 billion of its users?
a) Microsoft
b) Google
c) Yahoo
d) Altavista
36 Which phone this year had multiple reports of explosions, before being banned by all airlines?
a) Galaxy Note 7
b) iPhone 7
c) Galaxy S7 Edge
d) Nokia 7000
37 The closure of Victorian coal-fired power plant Hazelwood was announced last month. Who has been negotiating with nearby power plants to take on workers?
a) Simon Crean
b) Bob Hawke
c) Jeff Kennett
d) Bob Carr
38 What type of coal does Hazelwood burn?
a) Black
b) Bituminous
c) Sub-bituminous
d) Brown
39 When do BHP and joint venture partner Vale expect to have the Samarco mine in Brazil back up and running?
a) Never, it will be turned into a memorial park
b) By the middle of next year
c) 2018
d) 2022
40 Rio Tinto fired two top executives last month after a bribery scandal over one of the world’s biggest iron ore deposits, Simandou. In which country is the deposit located?
a) Syria
b) South Africa
c) Pakistan
d) Guinea
41 What is the name of the politician with whom Rio fixer Francois de Combret allegedly had a close relationship?
a) Lansana Conte
b) Alpha Conde
c) Alfa Romero
d) Robert Mugabe
42 The scandal was claimed as vindication by Rio’s rival for the Simandou deposit, Beny Steinmetz, who announced he would sue the miner. By the end of the year Steinmetz was:
a) Counting his cash on his yacht after reaching a settlement with Rio
b) Preparing for trial of his claim next year
c) Under arrest
d) Dead
43 Andrew Forrest’s iron ore miner Fortescue recently took delivery of the first of eight iron ore carriers. Who or what have the first four ships been named after?
a) Prominent Pilbara families
b) Fortescue’s founding directors
c) Pilbara towns
d) Forrest’s wife and children
44 WA Nationals leader Brendon Grylls wants to introduce a new tax on mining giants BHP and Rio by lifting an obscure 25c per tonne production rental fee to what?
a) 50c
b) $1
c) $2
d) $5
45 Who replaced Sam Walsh as chief executive of Rio Tinto in July?
a) Andrew Harding
b) Alan Davies
c) Chris Lynch
d) Jean-Sebastien Jacques
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