Born	April 22, 1938 (1938-04-22) (age 70) Hammersmith, London, England, UK
Conviction(s)	Fraud

Alan Bond (born 22 April 1938) is an Australian businessman famous for high-profile business ventures, including what was at the time the biggest corporate collapse in Australian history, and for which he was convicted of fraud and sent to jail. Events 1500 - Portuguese Navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral becomes the first European to sight Brazil. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, approximately 5 miles (8km west of Charing Cross on England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located In the broadest sense a fraud is a Deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual Events 1500 - Portuguese Navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral becomes the first European to sight Brazil. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Bond was born in the Hammersmith district of London, England, and emigrated to Australia with his parents and sister Geraldine in 1950. Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, approximately 5 miles (8km west of Charing Cross on London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Beginning his career as a signwriter he formed what was to be Bond Corporation in 1959. Alan Bond (born 22 April 1938 is a notorious Australian businessman famous for high-profile business ventures including what was at the time the biggest corporate collapse He became a public hero in his adopted country after bankrolling challenges for the yachting trophy the America's Cup, which resulted in his selection as Australian of the Year in 1978. Yachting is an activity involving boats It may be racing Sailing boats cruising to distant shores or day-sailing along a coast The America’s Cup is the most prestigious Regatta and Match race in the sport of Sailing, and the oldest active Trophy in international The Australian of the Year Awards commenced in 1960. From nominations received Australia Day Committees in each state and territory select several finalists He finally won the trophy in 1983, which had been held by the New York Yacht Club since 1851. See also America's Cup The 1983 America's Cup was the occasion of the first successful challenge to the New York Yacht Club 's 132-year defence of a Sailing Clubhouses In 1845 the club’s first clubhouse was established -- a modest Gothic-revival building in Hoboken New Jersey, on land donated by Commodore

History

Lippo Centre, 1987, Developed by Alan Bond, a landmark building in Hong Kong

The Perth-based Bond made his fortune initially in property development and at one time was one of Australia's most prominent businesspeople. Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. In 1970 he bought three America's Cup bid yachts from Sir Frank Packer. Sir Douglas Frank Hewson Packer, KBE ( 3 December 1906 &ndash 1 May 1974) was an Australian Media proprietor He later extended his business interests into other fields including brewing (he controlled Castlemaine Tooheys and G. Heileman Brewing Company in La Crosse, Wisconsin), gold mining and television. Brewing is the production of Alcoholic beverage and Alcohol fuel through fermentation. Tooheys is an Australian Brewery in the suburb of Lidcombe, in Sydney, New South Wales. The G Heileman Brewing Company of La Crosse Wisconsin, USA, was a Brewery firm that operated in 1858-1996 La Crosse is a city in and the County seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. "Gold mine" redirects here See Goldmine for other uses of the term Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Australia's first private university, Bond University, bears his name. Bond University is a private University located in Robina, Queensland, Australia.

He purchased QTQ-9, Brisbane and settled an outstanding defamation dispute the station had with the Queensland premier, Joh Bjelke-Petersen by paying out AUD$400,000. QTQ is an Australian Television station, licensed to and serving Brisbane Queensland. Brisbane ( is the state capital of Queensland. Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia and the most populous city of Queensland Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern corner of the mainland continent Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen KCMG (13 January 1911 &ndash 23 April 2005] New Zealand -born Australian Politician, was the longest-serving The Australian dollar ( sign: $; code: AUD) is the Currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas He said in a television interview several years later that he paid because "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 purchased Vincent Van Gogh's renowned painting, Irises,^[1] for $54 million — at the time a world record for a single painting. Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) Ownership history Its first owner was the French Art critic and anarchist Octave Mirbeau, who was also one of Van Gogh's first supporters he The purchase was however funded by a substantial loan from the auctioneer, Sotheby's, which Bond subsequently refused to repay and the painting was re-sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles in 1990. Sotheby's ( is the world's second oldest Auction house in continuous operation (the oldest being Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674 The Getty Center in Brentwood Los Angeles California, USA, is the current home of part of the J Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar)

Also in 1987, he was the developer of the Bond Center constructed in Hong Kong. Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders It is currently known as the Lippo Centre, Hong Kong. The Lippo Centre ( is a pair of twin office towers in Hong Kong, previously known as the Bond Center (奔達中心

Purchasing the Nine Network

In 1987 he paid $1 billion for the Australia-wide Nine television network from Kerry Packer's PBL. The Nine Network, or Channel Nine, is an Australian television network based in Willoughby, a suburb on the North Shore of Sydney Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer, AC (17 December 1937 &ndash 26 December 2005 son of Sir Frank Packer, was an Australian publishing media and gaming tycoon Publishing and Broadcasting Limited ( PBL) was one of Australia's largest companies with interests primarily in media and gaming In a 2003 interview with Andrew Denton, Bond described the negotiations as follows:

". . . when we first sat down, we said, 'We're either going to sell our stations to you for $400 million, or you're going to sell your stations to us. ' And he said, 'Well, I don't really want to sell my stations. ' And I said, 'Oh, is that right?' So, anyway, after much discussion, Kerry thumped the table and said, 'Listen, if you can pay me $1 billion, I'll sell them to you, otherwise bugger off. . . ' then I rang the National Australia Bank. National Australia Bank (or NAB) is the second largest financial institution by market capitalisation in Australia after Commonwealth Bank. I said, 'Look, I'm in discussions here to buy these television stations. Kerry will sell to me, and what I want to do is put our stations together and then, with Sky Channel, I'm going to float it off as a separate entity and raise the capital to pay for it. . . [Packer] said $1 billion [was his asking price], but I think I'll get it for $800 million. . . ' [The bank manager] duly rang back and said yes. I said, 'Thank God. I'll go and have some further negotiations with Kerry,' which I did. And true to his word, he never budged one penny off it. So I settled the deal with $800 million and a $200 million note. So he put his own $200 million in. So I had $1 billion. And we put our other two stations up as collateral, which were worth probably $400 million. "^[2]

Bond later ended up selling the network back to PBL in 1990 for $250 million in the midst of his business empire collapsing. Packer was quoted as saying "You only get one Alan Bond in your lifetime". ^[2]

Bankruptcy

He later went to jail, serving three years, for perpetrating Australia's biggest corporate fraud, AUD 1. 2 billion against Bell Group. ^[2]

In 1995 Bond and his family bought him out of bankruptcy, using about $12 million they held in offshore trusts to reach an arrangement with creditors who were owed $1. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their Creditors Creditors may file a bankruptcy petition against 8 billion, a payout of a little over half a cent on the dollar.

Bond today

Since 2004, interests related to the Bond family have held a large block of non-voting shares in Madagascar Oil, a business he cofounded with Sam Malin and Robert Nelson. Madagascar Oil SA (a subsidiary of Madagascar Oil Limited Bermuda is a Malagasy company focussing on the development exploration and production of Petroleum. Sam Malin (born 29 September 1963 is a Canadian businessman based in Madagascar. Interests related to the Bond family also control Global Diamond Resources plc (formerly Lesotho Diamond Corporation) which is developing the Kao diamond pipe in the Kingdom of Lesotho. Global Diamond Resources plc (formerly Lesotho Diamond Corporation is a Gibraltan company developing the Kao diamond pipe in the Kingdom of Lesotho. Lesotho (lɪˈsuːtuː) officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a Landlocked country and Enclave — entirely surrounded by the Republic of South

In 2008, Bond made a return to the Business Review Weekly's "Rich 200 List" in 157th spot, with an estimated wealth of $265 million thanks primarily to his stakes in Madagascar Oil and Global Diamond Resources. The Business Review Weekly (BRW is an Australian weekly business magazine published by the Fairfax Media group ^[3][4][5]

References

Books

• Paul Barry, The Rise And Fall Of Alan Bond, Bantam Books, 1991 ISBN 1-86359-037-4
• Alan Bond and Rob Mundle, Bond, HarperCollinsPublishers Pty Limited, 2004 ISBN 0-7322-7494-X

External links

• Official website