Business Magnates & Tycoons Codexery

Alan Bond

Businessman who bankrolled the 1983 America's Cup win.

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Alan Bond

via Wikipedia: Alan Bond · see source

He built a business empire spanning property, brewing, gold mining, television, and airships before his spectacular bankruptcy in 1992.[1][2][3] Bond died on 5 June 2015 after complications from open-heart surgery.[4] Alan Bond, who was born in London, England on 22 April 1938, moved to Australia at age 12 and later became a public hero for financing America's Cup challenges, and was subsequently convicted for what has been called the largest fraud in Australian history.[1][5][6]

Key facts and history

Bond was born on 22 April 1938 in London and emigrated to Fremantle, Australia with his family in 1950.[7][1] In 1969 he launched WA Land, the predecessor of Bond Corporation, which by 1982 was Western Australia's biggest company.[1] Bond became a public hero when he bankrolled challenges for the America's Cup, and was selected as Australian of the Year in 1978.[8][5] He bought the Nine Network from Kerry Packer for $1 billion in 1987 and sold it back two years later at a stunning loss.[1][5]

In 1997 he was sentenced to seven years in prison for siphoning $1.2 billion from Bell Resources into Bond Corporation.[9][5] He was released from prison in 2000 after serving four years.[10][5] Court documents later revealed that at 14, Bond faced a Perth court on charges of stealing and unlawfully being on premises, and at 18 he was again arrested for being on premises and reportedly admitted to planning a house robbery.[1] After ending his signwriting apprenticeship 18 months early, Bond launched his career under the business name 'Nu-Signs'.[11]

The 1987 acquisition of Vincent van Gogh's Irises by Bond cost $54 million, which at that time set a record as the most expensive single painting ever sold.[12][5] A personal guarantee of $194 million on a loan for a nickel-mining project went unpaid, leading to Bond being declared bankrupt in 1992.[3]

What the cited sources add

Paul Barry's account describes Bond as having a huge ego, scant regard for rules, and a strange ability to believe his own lies.[6] The same source reports that Bond's father told friends he would either become the richest man in Australia or end up in jail.[6] An ABC News article states that Bond was jailed in 1996 for fraud involving Manet's painting Le Promenade.[5] Verrender of the ABC wrote that Bond's salesmanship was beyond almost anything the world has ever witnessed.[13]

References

  1. Tovey, "Obituary: Alan Bond, 1938–2015", The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 June 2015. facts only, no text reused. smh.com.au
  2. Wikipedia, "Alan Bond" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kirkegaard, "Alan Bond and Bernie Powers: Beer in the '80s", Australian Brews News, 5 June 2015; .; Kish, "Former Heileman's owner Alan Bond dies", La Crosse Tribune, 6 June 2015; "Alan Bond: 10 things you need to know about the controversial tycoon", ABC News, 4 June 2015; Verrender, "Alan Bond: Australia's weak spot for the man behind the biggest heist in history", ABC News, 5 June 2015; "Fraudster and America's Cup legend Alan Bond dies", 5 June 2015; "Bond University mourns the passing of Mr Alan Bond ". Bond University, 5 June 2015 (we a en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Alan Bond" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Alan Bond Is Declared Bankrupt in Australia", The New York Times, 15 April 1992; Sally Loane, 'White Collar Criminals Suffer a Bad Case of Jailbouse Blues' Sydney Morning Herald 11 December 2000, p. 24; Sayer, "The disintegration of a heritage : country houses and their collections 1979-1992", Michael Russell, 1993; Brooks, "Oxfordshire : north and west", 2017 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Alan Bond" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Leanne Nicholson, "Alan Bond dead: 'All efforts were made', says Fiona Stanley Hospital", WA Today, 5 June 2015; Kate Campbell, "Alan Bond dead: Larger-than-life businessman loses fight after heart surgery", PerthNow, 5 June 2015; "Alan Bond continues to fight for life in Perth hospital after heart surgery complications", ABC News, 4 June 2015; "Alan Bond dies in Perth hospital after heart surgery complications " (5 June 2015), ABC News. Retrieved 5 June 2015. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. "Alan Bond: 10 things you need to know about the controversial tycoon", ABC News, 4 June 2015. facts only, no text reused. abc.net.au
  6. Barry, "Alan Bond dead: Paul Barry's account of a man who tricked Australia", The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 June 2015. facts only, no text reused. smh.com.au
  7. Wikipedia, "Alan Bond" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tovey, "Obituary: Alan Bond, 1938–2015", The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 June 2015; "Alan Bond, entrepreneur and businessman", beda.co.uk, 2007 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Alan Bond" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lewis, Wendy, "Australians of the Year", Pier 9 Press, 2010 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Alan Bond" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Head, "Australian businessman Alan Bond walks free from jail", 11 March 2000; Sprague, "Alan Bond dead: Bond Corp's demise left bad taste in the West", Australian Financial Review, 5 June 2015; Mickelburough, Peter "Social leaders stripped of honours after falling from grace ", Herald Sun, 6 June 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Alan Bond" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Alan Bond released from prison", BBC News, 9 March 2000 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Alan Bond" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Barry, "The Rise And Fall Of Alan Bond", Bantam Books, 1991; Barry, "The Rise And Fall Of Alan Bond", Bantam Books, 1991 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Alan Bond" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: According to an investigation by Jean-Pierre Thiollet published in Le Quotidien de Paris of 19 October 1989.; Reif, "A $27 Million Loan by Sotheby's Helped Alan Bond to Buy 'Irises'", New York Times, 18 October 1989; Irises, image at the J. Paul Getty Museum (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Verrender, "Alan Bond: Australia's weak spot for the man behind the biggest heist in history", ABC News, 5 June 2015. facts only, no text reused. abc.net.au

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Alan Bond (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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