Author says James Packer is like his dad

The author of a controversial biography of James Packer says the young tycoon is
very similar to the father he's trying to outdo.

Who Wants to be a Billionaire? - The James Packer Story, was launched on Monday
after more than three years of interviews with schoolmates, teachers and work
colleagues of the man now at the helm of Australia's powerful Packer dynasty.
"Who Wants to be a Billionaire is driven by a desire to understand a family who are
a big part of Australia and Australian history," author Paul Barry told a small
audience at the official launch in Sydney.
"For 80 years the Packers have owned one of this country's largest media empires,
they've brought us our TV, our magazines, they've enjoyed a huge amount of political
power and influence, they've run public companies in which the public invests and
which James still does."
Barry said despite rumours his unauthorised book was vicious, poisonous and should
never have been written, he believed it was "fair" and "considered".
"This book is about James and Kerry Packer ... it's about the relationship between
father and son, it's about what it's like to grow up with Kerry Packer as your
father," Barry said.
"Just imagine it - you see him on television monstering politicians, rising from his
death bed to assault one of his own cameramen, or monstering journalists who choose
to take him on.
"Just imagine having him as your father, having him on your case, day after day,
with the expectations of the dynasty behind you."
The book opens in early 2009 when, at the height of the global financial crisis,
James Packer is losing some $8,000 per minute.
It retraces his education and the moulding that occurred in preparation for him to
take the reins of the family fortune.
That handover occurred on the eve of the world's worst financial crisis in more than
75 years, during which James Packer lost some $4 billion of the $6 billion-plus
fortune left by his father.
Barry said it sent the heir into a state of depression but that his positive outlook
has seen him through.
"He believes things will come out OK," Barry said of the latest Packer.
Furthermore, the author says James Packer is a greater risk-taker in business than
his father, but that there are similarities between the father and son.
"In some ways he's a typical Packer," Barry said of James.
"He's a touch paranoid, he's got a temper, he has trouble controlling his weight, he
has trouble giving up smoking, and he's driven by a desire to match or outdo his
father, to impress his father to gain his respect."
The book outlines James Packer's highs and lows in business, such as the losses
linked to the failed telco One.Tel and his subsequent near nervous breakdown as well
as his belief in Scientology.
The book also questions the morality of taking a profit from operating casinos.