The Price of Fortune

Born into a powerful media dynasty, James Packer, at the age of 38, inherited a $5 billion fortune. In the following decade he pursued a dream of transforming his father Kerry’s media empire into an international gaming and entertainment colossus. But by the start of 2016, the pressure was taking its toll …When James Packer first sat down with seasoned Australian business journalist Damon Kitney in Aspen on a freezing winter’s evening in mid January 2018 to be interviewed for this book, it was the billionaire who started asking the questions.Seated on his favourite living-room couch – diving into a bowl of Twisties with one hand, clutching a cigarette in the other – he asked Kitney to outline his goal.The answer was simple: to tell the human story of being James Packer, warts and all, good and bad, fairly and accurately. Packer’s response was equally succinct. ‘Okay then, I am up for that,’ he replied.So began a six-month journey that proved both painful and cathartic for the famously private subject. Packer granted Kitney unprecedented access into his personal life with face-to-face interviews on three continents, and countless documents, photographs, emails and text messages. Kitney interviewed Hollywood film stars and producers, top local and international businessmen, former giants of politics and some of Packer’s closest family and friends around the world who had never before opened up about the man they call ‘JP’.The result is this multi-faceted, insightful and revealing portrait of a man whose deepest secrets were, until now, known by only a select few. A tour-de-force biography that delves into Australians’ fascination with the Packer family and its place in the country’s cultural and media landscape.

Damon Kitney is a Melbourne-based business editor. He has spent two decades in financial journalism, including 16 years at The Australian Financial Review in a variety of writing and editing roles in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Perth, including 5 years as a deputy editor of the newspaper. Damon Kitney is a Melbourne-based business editor. He has spent two decades in financial journalism, including 16 years at The Australian Financial Review in a variety of writing and editing roles in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Perth, including 5 years as a deputy editor of the newspaper. Paul English is an actor and narrator based in Melbourne who has appeared in more than 40 productions with major Australian theatre companies. Some highlights include Shakespeare's Hamlet, Chekhov’s Ivanov and Stoppard's Arcadia. Paul's television credits include SeaChange, Curtin and Gallipoli. His narration of Mao's Last Dancer (2004) and Coming Rain (2017) have both won AudioFile Earphones Awards.

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