Details emerge in battle for Wright riches
A bitter legal battle between the heirs to the multibillion-dollar Wright iron ore fortune has heard the details of conversations and negotiations that led up to one of the Australian mining industry’s most infamous deals.
A bitter legal battle between the heirs to the multibillion-dollar Wright iron ore fortune has heard the details of conversations and negotiations that led up to one of the Australian mining industry’s most infamous deals.
Lawyers for Julian Wright, the youngest of Peter Wright’s three children and who sold his stake in the family’s Wright Prospecting business shortly after their father passed away, yesterday produced a mountain of documents in Western Australia’s Supreme Court as they attempt to build their case.
Julian is suing his sister Angela Bennett and the estate of his deceased brother Michael Wright, claiming they “deliberately and actively” deceived him into accepting a cut-price offer for his stake in the business.
Julian sold his stake in Wright Prospecting in 1987 for $6.8 million. Wright Prospecting today is multibillion-dollar business thanks to its lucrative royalties over iron ore mines in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
Among the exhibits tendered on Tuesday were transcripts, memos and handwritten pages from the diary of Michael Wright.
The court heard the details of a conversation between Michael and the man who Julian’s legal team say was the lawyer to Michael and Angela, Carnie Fieldhouse, shortly after Peter died in which they discussed Julian’s interest in selling his stake in the business.
Mr Fieldhouse told Michael that Julian had said he believed his stake would be worth about $8m to $9m.
“How reasonable is that?,” asked Michael, according to a transcript of their conversation.
“Actually, I think it’s fairly low,” Mr Fieldhouse replied.
The court also saw a legal opinion provided to Julian by prominent lawyer (and future WA governor) Malcolm McCusker, which included an estimated value of Julian’s stake of about $10m.
The exhibits included the transcripts of meetings between Michael Wright and Hancock Prospecting founder Lang Hancock, in which the pair discussed the future of Wright Prospecting and potential future deals.
Julian alleges that he was misled over the true value of his stake due to withheld information as well as an incorrect statement of his father’s assets and liabilities that showed incorrectly that the estate was insolvent.
Lawyers for Ms Bennett and Michael Wright’s estate are expected to make their opening statements on Wednesday.
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