He was the richest man in Australia, a man who caused a ton of controversy when introducing World Series Cricket in 1977. Much like some of his fellow Australian media magnates, such as Rupert Murdoch and Alan Bond, he was a man who built an empire. Now, he is dead at aged 68.
This is not the first time he has been pronounced clinically dead. He was dead for a whole 7 minutes in 1990, when he had a major heart attack whilst playing polo. He was saved by the use of a defibrilator. The story goes that after his recovery was complete, he personally called the Premier of New South Wales and asked how many ambulances in the state had defibrilators. When he was told that only a quarter of them did, he not only insisted that every ambulance had one, he even offered to pay for them. He later also donated AUS$3million to a cardiac research unit at a Sydney hospital.
Not surprisingly, the story is widely reported all over the web. However, the selection that I provide below are, appropriately enough, all from Australian media websites.
Kerry Packer: Empire Builder (ABC Australia.)
Politicians, media pay tribute to Packer (Seven News)
Politicians, media pay tribute to Packer (NineMSN)
Kerry Packer Dies (Sky News Australia)
Kerry Packer. 1937 - 2005
