Now, Packer appears to be pushing back against the media executives and business figures who he appears to believe have wronged him, particularly those linked to his exit from Crown.
The group Packer trusts
Associates past and present say the current spurts of email activity are nothing new. One former adviser told the Financial Review that communications would often come in bursts.
“You’d come back to your phone and there’d be dozens of emails,” the person said. “You could ignore them, there would be a pause for a few hours, then more would come.”
Subjects of the emails focus on whatever is on Packer’s mind. The imprisonment of Julian Assange. His relationships in Hollywood. The trial of former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His weight loss.
Media figures at Nine Entertainment are often cc’d on these missives, including columnist Peter FitzSimons, Today show host Karl Stefanovic and Financial Review Rear Window columnist Joe Aston. There’s also Barrenjoey investment banker Matthew Grounds and Hollywood film director Brett Ratner in the mix.
When asked why communications were forwarded to this group, Packer replied: “Because I want it all on the record… and I trust those people”.
This week’s leaks to The Australian newspaper focused squarely on Costello and managing director of publishing at Nine, James Chessell.
Packer appears convinced that Costello played some role in the publication of the award-winning series of reports dubbed Crown Unmasked.
The six-month investigation from The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers and the 60 Minutes television program uncovered allegations that Crown was courting business from entities suspected of sex and drug trafficking.
Despite emails showing Packer lavishing praise on the reports, including on journalist Nick McKenzie, the businessman appears to less enamoured by those at the top of the company that produced them.
To him, it appears that Costello and the company have not been forthright on the work the former treasurer did for his business empire.
All of those involved, including the Victorian gaming minister alleged to have been targeted, flatly deny the substance of Packer’s attacks. Chessell sent a note to staff, standing by the reports.
Five days after the accusations were first raised, no evidence has been produced by Packer. Current and former friends of Packer point to a single line from a story that ran in The Australian newspaper in June, to try to explain his recent behaviour.
The newspaper ran an exclusive profile of the businessman, showing him looking happy and healthy with his three kids and former wife Erica at his Cabo San Lucas mansion in Mexico. Packer said the family would be returning to Australia in March for his next act.
He intends to visit the newly-built Crown Sydney while Erica redecorates his home in Sydney. Packer also told the newspaper “I got off all my antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs”.
With his intended return to Australian public life, Packer could be seeking redemption rather than revenge. He plans to work and invest in companies and projects linked to his areas of interest: Artificial intelligence, mental health and Australia’s relationship with China.
“I don’t see myself being an Australian company director,” he told the Financial Review. “Doesn’t mean I won’t buy shares in Australian companies.“
He signed off: “Personally I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life just fyi”.
