Solomon Lew’s awe swings to Donald Trump

Illustration: Rod Clement.

If he hadn’t pocketed such hefty fees from him, Bill Clinton might be justified in feeling badly treated by retail billionaire Solomon Lew.

The Premier Investments chairman, Lew has been out spruiking the US president-elect ­Donald Trump, with whom he worked a decade ago on the auction of hundreds of luxury apartments in Hawaii, the state where Barack Obama was born (as Trump finally conceded a few months ago).

Well-connected retail billionaire Solomon Lew, at a lunch with guests including then treasurer Joe Hockey and BHP boss Andrew Mackenzie.

In Lew’s account, the 2006 deal with his fellow billionaire was a great success.

“He has bred a great culture within both his family and his ­organisation,” Lew said.

It’s the sort of happy Trump story few people were trotting out before November 8.

Lew, for example, has always been much more public about his admiration for the Clintons, particularly Bill.

Back in 2001, Lew was one of 60 business types who shelled out $18,000 for an audience with the US’s 42nd president.

“It was like history in the making, absolutely inspiring,” Lew said after the Melbourne summit.

The billionaire was so impressed that the next year Clinton addressed a fundraising dinner for Mount Scopus, the prestigious Jewish college whose foundation Lew chaired for 26 years until 2013.

That Clinton address at the “Gala Dinner” still sits proudly in the highlights reel of the annual report of the foundation, which is now chaired by Tony ­Smorgon.

No doubt we would have heard a lot more about that event and Solly’s other presidential mate had things gone differently last Tuesday.

Adept at adapting

Solomon Lew’s presidential anecdote reshuffle shows a certain similarity of approach to America’s incoming deal-minded president.

Rodney Adler, before his high-profile corporate fall.

And as Rodney Adler, another Australian who did business with Donald Trump, told us, that could be key to Trump’s success.

“Business people have to react to the environment. You do change your opinion as the environment changes,” says Adler, the former CEO of FAI Insurance who, after a high-profile corporate fall to rival anything on Trump’s CV, now runs an advisory business in Sydney.

Adler had a lot to do with the next American president in the late 1990s when — after an 18-month negotiation — FAI agreed to sell the St Moritz hotel (now the Ritz-Carlton) to Trump.

The Manhattan hotel was in FAI hands after it took possession of it from fallen billionaire Alan Bond, who himself bought it from Trump for $US180 million in 1988 (more than twice the price Trump had paid for it three years earlier).

Adler’s sale to Trump fell over after a rival buyer swooped in, using a “drop dead clause”.

But not before a major Trump charm offensive that reminded Adler of the late stockbroker Rene Rivkin.

“Donald Trump, in a flamboyant sense, was fifty times Rene,” Adler says. “But, I must say, dealing with Donald Trump was a delight. He was smart, he was charming, he knew his stuff.”

And, for what it’s worth, what is Adler’s prediction for the success, or otherwise, of the US’s 45th president?

“On balance, I think we’ll find the Trump presidency pro-business and very exciting,” he say. “I think volatility is going to be a word that’s used a lot in the next four years.”

Short shrift

At last week’s Sohn Hearts & Minds investment conference, VGI’s executive director Rob Luciano advised company boards dealing with short sellers to engage, hear the case and respond respectfully.

Gerry Harvey says short sellers should be banned.

Billionaire retailer Gerry Harvey took a different, old-school approach yesterday at the Harvey Norman AGM at Sydney Tattersalls club.

“I think short sellers should be banned,” Harvey, 77, and worth $1.99 billion, told shareholders.

The robust response to the short-selling position by John Hempton’s Sydney-based fund Bronte Capital completely derailed the AGM.

Australian Shareholders’ Association director Allan Goldin got caught in all sorts of crossfire, as Harvey asked whether he was “a stooge” for the short sellers (no, Goldin said) and whether he had voted for Donald Trump (no, Goldin said, adding he is Canadian).

Following Harvey’s widely reported performance, the stock closed down 3.4 per cent to $4.54. Maybe follow Luciano’s advice next time?

Tinkler finds voice

The resurgent boganaire Nathan Tinkler is fifth on the speakers list for the fourth Planning Assessment Commission hearing on Anglo American’s controversial Drayton South mine, in the NSW Hunter Valley, tomorrow.

Nathan Tinkler has history with Gerry Harvey.

It will be interesting to hear if Gerry Harvey gets a mention.

The two have history. Back when he was a paper billionaire, Tinkler spent tens of millions on thoroughbred horses, much of it at Harvey’s Magic Millions yearling sale.

But, as with many Tinkler ventures, it didn’t end well. Harvey says Tinkler still owes him $6m.

Tinkler’s horse empire has long been dismantled, but the bankrupted Tinkler is on the march in the Hunter Valley, once again.

Australian Pacific Coal — in which Tinkler has a stake — is negotiating to buy Anglo American’s mothballed Dartbrook underground mine for $25m.

Earlier this year, the resurgent Tinkler singled out Harvey, who owns the Baramul horse stud in the Hunter Valley, and broadcaster Alan Jones, as high-profile opponents of Drayton South who don’t necessarily “know what they’re talking about”.

We’ll find out soon if Tinkler will expand on that attack.

It looks like he’ll be in the minority in Muswellbrook. Of the 74 registered speakers, more than 60 are believed to be against the project.

Cat on the fly

There’s nothing legacy media about Domain boss Antony Catalano.

Domain boss Antony Catalano went to the Melbourne Cup in a helicopter.

The Cat didn’t just go to the Birdcage on Melbourne Cup Day. He went there in a helicopter.

What’s wrong with the boss dressing up as Willy Wonka from time to time?

It was a sort of exuberance lacking from his boss Fairfax CEO Greg Hywood’s address in Melbourne two days later at the digital real estate company’s AGM.

Fairfax billionaire director Jack Cowin (a Catalano backer) also kept away from what was a gloomy affair.

Somewhat bizarrely, we keep hearing whispers about concerns over The Cat’s partying ways.

Seems a bit off to us. As BlackRock’s Madeleine Beaumont pointed out at the Hearts & Minds investment conference, Domain is actually worth more than Fairfax’s market cap.

“We think this is irrational and based on emotion rather than facts,” Beaumont argued.

And, really, what’s wrong with the boss dressing up as Willy Wonka from time to time?