Australian entrepreneur, America's Cup winner Alan Bond dies

[webfact]

Australian entrepreneur, America's Cup winner Alan Bond dies
ROD McGUIRK, Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Alan Bond, the polarizing global entrepreneur who became an Australian hero by bankrolling a historic America's Cup yacht race victory before going to prison over the nation's biggest corporate fraud, died on Friday. He was 77.

Bond, who had rheumatic fever as a child which weakened his heart, died in Fiona Stanley Hospital in the west Australian city of Perth of complications following open heart surgery, said his son, John Bond. The surgery involved replacing a heart valve that had previously been replaced almost 20 years ago, and repairs to two other valves.

"He never regained consciousness after his surgery on Tuesday and has been on life support since that time," John Bond told reporters. "To a lot of people, dad was a larger-than-life character who started with nothing and did so much. He really did experience the highs and lows of life. To us, however, he was just dad — a father who tried his best to be the best dad he could."

The flamboyant, London-born former sign writer divided Australians. Some remember him as a national sporting hero who transformed his once-sleepy adopted home of Perth into a global business center. To others, he will always be an audacious corporate criminal who was only exposed when his global business empire crashed in the early 1990s.

Perhaps Bond's proudest moment came in 1983 when he headed the Australia II syndicate that won the America's Cup from the New York Yacht Club that had held it since 1851. Australia II's then-revolutionary winged keel had ended the longest winning streak in the history of sport.

Bond had already been honored as Australian of the Year in 1978 for sponsoring earlier unsuccessful America's Cup challenges.

Perth's neighboring port town of Fremantle, where Bond arrived as a 12 year old with his immigrant family in 1950, played host to the next yacht race in 1987. But Australia has never again won the prestigious trophy contest.

His fall came in the 1990s when he was bankrupted owing $1.8 billion Australian dollars ($1.4 billion), his flagship company Bond Corp. Holdings Ltd. collapsed and he was sent to prison three times for corporate crimes.

He pleaded guilty in 1997 to corporate law charges related to the siphoning of AU$1.2 billion from one of his companies, Bell Resources, to prop up Bond Corp. At the time, it was Australia's biggest-ever corporate fraud.

Bond won a High Court appeal against his seven-year prison sentence and walked free in 2000 after serving a little more than three years.

He was sentenced in 1996 to three years in prison on convictions that he had improperly used his position as a director of Bond Corp. in a series of transactions that cost that public company millions of dollars and enabled Bond's family company to buy French impressionist Edouard Manet's painting "La Promenade" at a discount price. He was still in prison when he pleaded guilty the next year to the corporate law charges.

He was sentenced in 1992 — the year he was bankrupted — to two-and-a-half years in prison after being found guilty of inducing a former friend to contribute to the rescue of the doomed Rothwells merchant bank while concealing a multimillion dollar fee Bond's family company made from the deal. He served only a few months before he was retried and acquitted.

Bond was born in the Hammersmith district of west London, the second child of Frank and Kathleen Bond.

He followed the footsteps of his father, who was a commercial painter, by becoming an apprentice sign writer at 14 despite failing a spelling test set by his employer, Fremantle firm Parnell Signs, according to Paul Barry's biography "The Rise and Fall of Alan Bond."

Bond completed less than four years of his 5-year apprenticeship before starting a rival business, Nu-Signs, in Fremantle with his father.

Bond showed early business acumen. But his honesty was always in question.

When he was 18 years old, he was convicted in a Fremantle court of two attempted home burglaries. He was fined and placed on a good behavior bond.

He started making big money in the 1960s, when he branched into property development around Perth.

He was one of Australia's wealthiest people by the 1980s, as Bond Corp. gathered brewing, media and mining assets around the world.

In 2008, Bond made BRW magazine's annual list of Australia's 200 richest individuals for the first time in 18 years. BRW ranked Bond at 157th place with an estimated fortune of $255 million through interests including an African diamond mine and Madagascan oil fields.

"All things involving Bond and money are opaque, so we were very wary of overstating Bond's wealth," BRW editor in chief Sean Aylmer told The Associated Press at the time.

He is survived by his first wife Eileen and their children John, Craig and Jody.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-06-05

[midas]

No matter what his critics have said about his bad points I will never ever forget the fantastic atmosphere in Australia in1983 when Alan Bond made it possible to win that cup. Australia was an unbelievably great place to be living and working at that time

“ I think Alan Bond is owed a great deal of gratitude by the Australian people. The way he helped to lift the Australian spirit as a result of that great historic victory of 1983 was great for our country."

Bob Hawke, 2013

[NumbNut]

Yes, the America's Cup win was a definite high point, but he ripped off too many mum & dad investors that believed his spin. And really, using the word 'spin' to describe his shenanigans is on the polite side. Wayyyyyy on the polite side.

He was never boring though, that's for sure.

[keith101]

a thief who syphoned off over 1 billion dollarsand finally got by karma

[samran]

i love the famous line Kerry Packer made when Bond purchased Channel 9 off him for a billion dollars in the 80s.

"You only get one Alan Bond in your lifetime, and I've had mine".

Packer bought the station back off him a few years later for half the price when Bond hit financial difficulty.

[Gunna]

A corporate criminal who started out burgling houses

Paul Barry said of him

the one who didn't care a damn for the rules, the one who manufactured profits, the one who paid himself massive fees for services of doubtful value

See more at: http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/paul-barry/rise-and-fall-of-alan-bond-9781863590372.aspx#sthash.HahZ7Ajp.dpuf

The Packer family is eternally grateful to Bond who paid way over the top for Channel 9 when he bought it from them for triple what it was worth.

Used a company " Bond Corp " as the sponsor - and then took all the credit as if he personally had funded it

Edited June 5, 2015 by Gunna

[Manbing]

White collar Crim lauded in death.

Disgusting

[thaimlord]

RIP Bondy and commiserations to the family.

You helped make the 1980s the phenomenal time that it was in our lives.

TL

[maoro2013]

I guess the shareholders in Bond Corp aren't singing his praises

[eggers]

Sad day.... the "likeable rogue" from the West. His life was a roller coaster ride. From high of putting Australia on the map, by winning yachting's pinnacle event, the America's Cup in 1983.

To being responsible for one of Australia's biggest financial crashes, Bond Corp & he had the guts to face the music & serve his jail term; not like some who "left the building".

Love him or hate him....Vale Alan Bond & RIP!!

[midas]

White collar Crim lauded in death.

Disgusting

You must be joking?

There are many politicians and highrolling banksters living right now who committed far worse crimes before and after the 2008 financial crisis than Alan Bond. Why aren't they in jail?

Edited June 5, 2015 by midas

[thaibeachlovers]

To others, he will always be an audacious corporate criminal who was only exposed when his global business empire crashed in the early 1990s.

No argument there

Karma's a bitch.

[thaibeachlovers]

RIP Bondy and commiserations to the family.

You helped make the 1980s the phenomenal time that it was in our lives.

TL

Lucky you. The 80s sucked big time for me.

[Saan]

No matter what his critics have said about his bad points I will never ever forget the fantastic atmosphere in Australia in1983 when Alan Bond made it possible to win that cup. Australia was an unbelievably great place to be living and working at that time

“ I think Alan Bond is owed a great deal of gratitude by the Australian people. The way he helped to lift the Australian spirit as a result of that great historic victory of 1983 was great for our country."

Bob Hawke, 2013

What arrant nonsense. The thing that Bond lifted was money from average peoples pockets and left them in desperate circumstances. He paid back 6 cents in the dollar and hid hundreds of millions of dollars. Shortly after he was released from gaol he was listed in the BRW's top 200 wealthiest people in Australia's list.

He was an amoral, despicable man and should in no way be lauded.

And if you want to look at another crook, a multi millionaire, have a close look at Bob Hawke.

[midas]

No matter what his critics have said about his bad points I will never ever forget the fantastic atmosphere in Australia in1983 when Alan Bond made it possible to win that cup. Australia was an unbelievably great place to be living and working at that time

“ I think Alan Bond is owed a great deal of gratitude by the Australian people. The way he helped to lift the Australian spirit as a result of that great historic victory of 1983 was great for our country."

Bob Hawke, 2013

What arrant nonsense. The thing that Bond lifted was money from average peoples pockets and left them in desperate circumstances. He paid back 6 cents in the dollar and hid hundreds of millions of dollars. Shortly after he was released from gaol he was listed in the BRW's top 200 wealthiest people in Australia's list.

He was an amoral, despicable man and should in no way be lauded.

And if you want to look at another crook, a multi millionaire, have a close look at Bob Hawke.

arrant nonsense eh ?

There are far worse corporate criminals at large right now who have contributed absolutely nothing positive to their country. William Dudley the chief economist at Goldman Sachs and others like him whose deliberate lies and falsification of facts during the financial crisis regarding derivatives indisputably had 10 times greater negative impact on the lives of families than Alan Bond ever did.

And you even have a go at Bob Hawke. What about the continual revelations regarding Bill and Hillary Clinton in America or Tony Blair who is also counting his millions as well as a host of other politicians.

[thaimlord]

Sad day.... the "likeable rogue" from the West. His life was a roller coaster ride. From high of putting Australia on the map, by winning yachting's pinnacle event, the America's Cup in 1983.

To being responsible for one of Australia's biggest financial crashes, Bond Corp & he had the guts to face the music & serve his jail term; not like some who "left the building".

Love him or hate him....Vale Alan Bond & RIP!!

Yes, you're right. Christopher Skase pissed off to Spain. Bondy stayed to face the music.

TL

[thaimlord]

RIP Bondy and commiserations to the family.

You helped make the 1980s the phenomenal time that it was in our lives.

TL

Lucky you. The 80s sucked big time for me.

Hi @thaibeachlovers

I lost everything I had in the crash, and then some more. A big lesson learned.

You (and I) can't blame Bondy or anyone else for our loss of money. The decisions to invest were ours.

Cheers

Warwick

[Saan]

No matter what his critics have said about his bad points I will never ever forget the fantastic atmosphere in Australia in1983 when Alan Bond made it possible to win that cup. Australia was an unbelievably great place to be living and working at that time

“ I think Alan Bond is owed a great deal of gratitude by the Australian people. The way he helped to lift the Australian spirit as a result of that great historic victory of 1983 was great for our country."

Bob Hawke, 2013

What arrant nonsense. The thing that Bond lifted was money from average peoples pockets and left them in desperate circumstances. He paid back 6 cents in the dollar and hid hundreds of millions of dollars. Shortly after he was released from gaol he was listed in the BRW's top 200 wealthiest people in Australia's list.

He was an amoral, despicable man and should in no way be lauded.

And if you want to look at another crook, a multi millionaire, have a close look at Bob Hawke.

arrant nonsense eh ?

There are far worse corporate criminals at large right now who have contributed absolutely nothing positive to their country. William Dudley the chief economist at Goldman Sachs and others like him whose deliberate lies and falsification of facts during the financial crisis regarding derivatives indisputably had 10 times greater negative impact on the lives of families than Alan Bond ever did.

And you even have a go at Bob Hawke. What about the continual revelations regarding Bill and Hillary Clinton in America or Tony Blair who is also counting his millions as well as a host of other politicians.

What were we talking about. I thought it was about that crook Alan Bond and his cheer squad, Bob Hawke. Then we winged our way to the US and UK.

You forgot to mention that Stalin and Hitler killed more people. Oh, sorry that's not relevant is it.

Basically what you are saying is that Goldman Sacks were bigger crooks than Bond so that makes him a good bloke. Don't worry if Bond could have taken down more people he would of.

[sanuk711]

i love the famous line Kerry Packer made when Bond purchased Channel 9 off him for a billion dollars in the 80s.

"You only get one Alan Bond in your lifetime, and I've had mine".

Packer bought the station back off him a few years later for half the price when Bond hit financial difficulty.

Yer samran---it sits along side the Quote from Bond himself---- if you owe a bank a hundred thousand dollars you've got a lot of problems mate.....If you owe a bank a hundred million dollars --"They've got a lot of problems mate"

---------------------

As for people losing money-----

The stock market is a flash T.A.B. stop blaming everyone else if you backed the wrong horse.

[thaimlord]

i love the famous line Kerry Packer made when Bond purchased Channel 9 off him for a billion dollars in the 80s.

"You only get one Alan Bond in your lifetime, and I've had mine".

Packer bought the station back off him a few years later for half the price when Bond hit financial difficulty.

Yer samran---it sits along side the Quote from Bond himself---- if you owe a bank a hundred thousand dollars you've got a lot of problems mate.....If you owe a bank a hundred million dollars --"They've got a lot of problems mate"

---------------------

As for people losing money-----

The stock market is a flash T.A.B. stop blaming everyone else if you backed the wrong horse.

Entirely correct @sanuk711

And it wouldn't have mattered whether you backed Bond, Skase, Renouf, Brierley, Judge, Holmes a Court or any of the others, the crash would have lost you lots of money on any and all of them. Losing your investments at the close of the eighties and after had nothing whatsoever to do with Alan Bond. And oddly enough, if the market had continued plowing on upward for another few years, Bond may well have been the biggest hero ever, having his praises sung by the same wallies who are now putting him down.

Everything aside, one thing separates him from the whingers on this forum. He got out there and gave it a bloody good go. And damned near became the richest man in Australia, from absolutely nothing. I don't see any of the whingers telling us how they got stuck in and tried anything at all, let alone something as grand as that.

If people want to tell us of his faults, fair enough, but I think they should have the decency to speak about both sides of the coin. Bondy and the other Aussie entrepreneurs of the day opened the world to viewing Australians in a different light. We were no longer a bunch of descendants of convicts, but a force on the world stage. And he had his part in that and his family can rightly be proud.

TL

[Saan]

A far better testimonial than I hope is ever said for the Packers and Murdochs who are always the first ones to leave the building.

Don't speak to me of white collar crime whilst these guys are alive. One ruling Australia and the other one ruling the world.

Bond was a bastard for sure but he was a bastard with balls.

Yep, other peoples balls. He played with other people's balls and lost hundreds of millions of other peoples money and came out of gaol one of the richest men in Australia, with money he had hidden.

Bond knew what he was doing, never displayed any compassion as he wrecked lives, just looked for more prey.

[geriatrickid]

arrant nonsense eh ?

There are far worse corporate criminals at large right now who have contributed absolutely nothing positive to their country. William Dudley the chief economist at Goldman Sachs and others like him whose deliberate lies and falsification of facts during the financial crisis regarding derivatives indisputably had 10 times greater negative impact on the lives of families than Alan Bond ever did.

And you even have a go at Bob Hawke. What about the continual revelations regarding Bill and Hillary Clinton in America or Tony Blair who is also counting his millions as well as a host of other politicians.

Although you might be right on some things, that doesn't change the fact that Bond stole from those of limited financial means, lived a lavish lifestyle at their expense, never made an attempt to compensate his victims and was a pathological liar and thief. It doesn't matter if Dudley did something or if Tony Blair cashed in on his fame. It cannot justify the evil done by Bond. He could be charming and his bravado seduced many. Many people saw through the sham.

[oxo1947]

Yep, other peoples balls. He played with other people's balls and lost hundreds of millions of other peoples money and came out of gaol one of the richest men in Australia, with money he had hidden.

Bond knew what he was doing, never displayed any compassion as he wrecked lives, just looked for more prey.

He didn't hide any of the money saan, you obviously haven't read his full story--(or have not grasped it)

The money was in plain sight. it just couldn't be touched---Read his bio , your see how he done it.

People did think he went a little over the top when he paid 39 million for the Van Gogh picture & put it down to office furniture---for tax free. However even when all the dust settled the creditors got 53 million for it-----so was it a bad buy?

[thaibeachlovers]

RIP Bondy and commiserations to the family.

You helped make the 1980s the phenomenal time that it was in our lives.

TL

Lucky you. The 80s sucked big time for me.

Hi @thaibeachlovers

I lost everything I had in the crash, and then some more. A big lesson learned.

You (and I) can't blame Bondy or anyone else for our loss of money. The decisions to invest were ours.

Cheers

Warwick

Sorry, you misunderstood. I got married to a western woman in the 80s- cue a decade of misery. I was being tongue in cheek.

I did learn a lesson though- never marry a western woman. Married a Thai woman and after 5 years life is a zillion % better than with the woman from hell.

[thaibeachlovers]

Sad day.... the "likeable rogue" from the West. His life was a roller coaster ride. From high of putting Australia on the map, by winning yachting's pinnacle event, the America's Cup in 1983.

To being responsible for one of Australia's biggest financial crashes, Bond Corp & he had the guts to face the music & serve his jail term; not like some who "left the building".

Love him or hate him....Vale Alan Bond & RIP!!

A far better testimonial than I hope is ever said for the Packers and Murdochs who are always the first ones to leave the building.

Don't speak to me of white collar crime whilst these guys are alive. One ruling Australia and the other one ruling the world.

Bond was a bastard for sure but he was a bastard with balls.

Be hard to find a bigger b@stard than Murdoch. His Fox news hasn't far to go before more time is spent on ads than content.

[thaimlord]

RIP Bondy and commiserations to the family.

You helped make the 1980s the phenomenal time that it was in our lives.

TL

Lucky you. The 80s sucked big time for me.

Hi @thaibeachlovers

I lost everything I had in the crash, and then some more. A big lesson learned.

You (and I) can't blame Bondy or anyone else for our loss of money. The decisions to invest were ours.

Cheers

Warwick

Sorry, you misunderstood. I got married to a western woman in the 80s- cue a decade of misery. I was being tongue in cheek.

I did learn a lesson though- never marry a western woman. Married a Thai woman and after 5 years life is a zillion % better than with the woman from hell.

Hehe will done!

Can't argue with any of that logic, for sure.

:-)

TL

[Gunna]

Sad day.... the "likeable rogue" from the West. His life was a roller coaster ride. From high of putting Australia on the map, by winning yachting's pinnacle event, the America's Cup in 1983.

To being responsible for one of Australia's biggest financial crashes, Bond Corp & he had the guts to face the music & serve his jail term; not like some who "left the building".

Love him or hate him....Vale Alan Bond & RIP!!

Yes, you're right. Christopher Skase pissed off to Spain. Bondy stayed to face the music.

TL

Bondy couldn't remember a thing during the trial.

And made a miraculous recovery as soon as it finished

[tigermoth]

Sad to see of Bondy's death. I met him many times during the hey days of the America's Cup as well as working on several of his developments in Perth as a senior architect with Forbes and Fitzhardinge, one of the leading architectural companies in those days. One of those developments was Two Rocks, a new town and marina developed by Alan for the defence of the cup north of Perth. This also changed the face of Fremantle forever with the huge tourist influx it created.

Over several beers in the quiet privacy of our architectural office I remember him as a vibrant fun person who was not afraid of anything and he certainly contributed to making Perth what it is today. Part of todays Perth skyline can be contributed to his developments and my old firms designs.

Condolances to all his family.

[RickBradford]

There are certain people who have an utterly different view of how to behave than the majority of us. They don't play by our rules; in fact, they despise rules of any kind. Carnivores.

Bondy (London wide boy) was one; Robert Maxwell (Czech wide boy) was another classic case; Blatter is emerging as another, Ecclestone still on the loose, just. They are more common than you would think.

Common elements are: flamboyant lifestyle, superficial charm, always moving on to the "next deal", outraged criticism of those who oppose them, multiple interlocked financial dealings, bluster, contempt of the "little people" who ultimately supply their wealth.