Superheroes return

In many ways big business in the 1980s became synonymous with the identities it churned out, those who are known these days by single monikers which carry with them both perjorative and admirable connotations.

Bond. Packer. Skase. Trump.

Perhaps by accident or revision the headline dominating business practices receded during the 1990s until the dawn of the new century. But now? Big business and big ideas mean big celebrity.

They didn’t even need to be the biggest deals in business that captured our imagination – just ask Nathan Tinkler who caught a ‘lucky’ break with his coal-mining business and then ploughed the money into his passions, most notably racehorses.

So who are the movers and shakers who shaped our newsfeeds with their successes and failures between 2000 and 2009?

Riding on the coat tails of a strong resources boom and an impressive professional effort, Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest exemplified the boom and bust nature of the decade. His majority shareholding in Fortescue Metals Group saw him crowned Australia’s richest man in the media in late 2007 and early 2008, although he has since passed that mantle on. With a commitment to the local community backed by action, Forrest has embarked on plans to help indigenous people find employment. Another who never seemed to get off the rollercoaster was Solomon Lew, who was seemingly involved in everything in the first few years of the decade. Ultimately some of the plays didn’t work out well, such as his joint pitch for the failing Ansett Airlines with Lindsay Fox in September 2001 and his ousting from the board of the former Coles Myer in 2002.

The Australian public also learnt a new term for ousting staff during the decade, when sensational documents tendered in court by a disgruntled Nine employee revealed newly installed CEO Eddie McGuire referred to sacking someone as ‘boning’ them. McGuire has been an enigma in the past decade, hosting just about everything possible on TV – even appearing on all three commercial stations at once while presenting a tsunami-relief fundraiser – and being appointed chief executive of one of the late Kerry Packer’s favourite companies, Channel 9. The appointment was short lived however and was marred by a spate of sackings and the embarrassing court documents – although McGuire still retains his reputation as one of the best professionals in the business and a fearsome on-air talent.

The past decade certainly saw some generational and defining movements in the Australian media industry. Long dominated
by the Packer and Murdoch families, there were several key stories including the decision by Lachlan Murdoch to step back from his role with his father’s companies while still retaining some involvement and the move by James Packer to distance his involvement with the Nine Network. Meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch continued to expand the News Corp empire, shifting the domicile from Adelaide to the United States in 2004 and in 2007 purchasing Dow Jones, the owner of the respected Wall St Journal.

While the Packer name slipped down the rich lists after Kerry passed away, another family dynasty has stepped out of the shadows. In his last years before passing away Richard Pratt was synonymous with rebirthing and rebuilding his beloved Carlton Football Club and taking Visy Industries to another level. Pratt also fell foul of the competition authorities, although much of this issue was settled prior to his death earlier this year.

One to meet an unfortunate business demise was Eddy Groves, founder of ABC Learning. Groves grew the company from a single childcare centre in Brisbane in 1988 to a national company which listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 2001. At the time his share of the company made him one of the richest men in Australia, but when the value of the stock was slashed in early 2008 Groves had to sell out to meet margin calls by the banks.

Wizard Home Loans was also in the news this decade, with founder Mark Bouris organising a sale to GE Money for $500 million in 2004. Later in 2008 Wizard was sold again to Aussie, controlled by John Symond.

Bouris has also recently appeared on the Australian version of The Apprentice, a ‘reality’ television program based on the US version which launched in 2003 with Donald Trump at the helm. Trump parlayed his onscreen success into fantastic business and branding opportunities, reigniting a career that was falling stagnant through mounting debt. In fact, Donald Trump was one of the biggest names in entrepreneurship of the entire decade – just like the 1980s all over again.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.