Alan Bond

Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was a British-born Australian businessman whose career was marked by high-profile, often corrupt dealings. He was a central figure in the 1980s WA Inc scandals, oversaw the largest corporate collapse in Australian history, and was convicted of fraud, serving four years in prison. He is also remembered for funding the 1983 America's Cup victory—the first time the New York Yacht Club had lost in 132 years—and for founding Bond University on the Gold Coast.

Bond was born in London’s Hammersmith area to Frank and Kathleen Bond. At age 12, in 1950, he emigrated with his parents and older sister Geraldine to Fremantle, near Perth. At 14, he faced charges for stealing and trespassing. At 18, he was arrested again for trespassing and reportedly admitted planning a robbery.

He started his career as a signwriter under the name Nu-Signs, leaving his apprenticeship 18 months early. In 1956, he was charged with attempted burglary after police found him in Fremantle wearing State Electricity Commission overalls and carrying tools. Nu-Signs became Lesmurdie Heights, named after his largest estate, then Bond Corporation in 1959. During the 1960s property boom, he became one of Western Australia’s biggest borrowers from finance companies that lent freely and accepted his valuations without scrutiny. His developments included Swan River apartments and Lesmurdie Heights.

At his peak, Bond was one of Australia’s most prominent business figures. He expanded into brewing (controlling Castlemaine Tooheys and winning the constitutional case *Castlemaine Tooheys Ltd v South Australia*, plus G. Heileman Brewing in Wisconsin), gold mining, television, and airships. Bond Corporation founded Australia’s first private university, Bond University, in 1987. He bought QTQ-9 Brisbane and settled a defamation dispute with Queensland premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen by paying A$400,000, later saying in a TV interview that “Sir Joh left no doubt that if we were going to continue to do business successfully in Queensland then he expected the matter to be resolved.”

In 1987, Bond bought Vincent van Gogh’s *Irises* for $54 million—then a record for a single painting—using a large loan from Sotheby’s that he never repaid. Art dealers criticised the sale as possibly manipulated to inflate prices. The painting was resold to the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1990. That same year, Bond established the Bond Centre in Hong Kong, a twin-tower complex later bought by Indonesia’s Lippo Group and renamed the Lippo Centre.

Bond became a national hero for funding America’s Cup challenges. In 1978, he was named Australian of the Year (jointly with Galarrwuy Yunupingu). His Australia II syndicate won the 1983 America’s Cup, ending the New York Yacht Club’s 132-year hold—a streak considered the longest in sport. The victory earned him an Officer of the Order of Australia.

In 1987, Bond bought the Nine Network from Kerry Packer for $1.05 billion. According to Bond’s 2003 interview, Packer initially refused to sell, then said, “If you can pay me $1 billion, I’ll sell them to you, otherwise bugger off.” Bond secured $800 million from the National Australia Bank and a $200 million note from Packer, using his own stations as collateral. Packer later turned the debt into a 37% stake in Bond Media when Bond went bankrupt, worth about $500 million. Packer remarked, “You only get one Alan Bond in your lifetime, and I’ve had mine.”

Bond’s bankruptcy and criminal conviction for fraud followed, with a four-year prison term before parole.