Rampart Talks: James Packer

In the first week of October, I flew to Fiji to interview James Packer on his 107-metre Benetti superyacht, IJE.

I’ve been friends with James for 10 years now, and it’s been a tumultuous decade for him – taking into account his severe mental health struggles and the ignominious unravelling of his proprietorship of Crown Resorts.

We talked about all of that, and so much more: his relationships with President Donald Trump, News Corp and Fox chairman Lachlan Murdoch and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; his investments in everything from gaming stock Light & Wonder and Daniel Nadler's OpenEvidence; how far Xi Jinping has set back China; and even his bitterness towards the Australian Taxation Office.

There are many quotes that I love, but I think my favourite has to be this one:

"Disney bought the (21st Century) Fox assets, and that was an amazing deal. Bob Iger was meant to be the best in Hollywood. But you know, Rupert [Murdoch] skinned Bob Iger. Skinned him. Got US$72 billion. The assets are probably worth half that today".

This interview became the first episode of my new vodcast series Rampart Talks, and is now available to watch or listen to at rampart.news.

The full one-hour version is only available to Rampart subscribers. A 14-minute cut is viewable on the website for free list members as well as on YouTube, Spotify and all the major podcast players.

I hope you enjoy it – and share it with others.