Alan Bond: Life Support

WA business identity Alan Bond is in a critical condition in intensive care in a Perth hospital

WA business identity Alan Bond is in intensive care in a Perth hospital, his family has confirmed.

The 77-year-old returned from London to have triple-bypass surgery earlier this week.

His children, John, Craig and Jody, have released a statement saying “our father Alan Bond has been admitted to hospital and is in a critical condition in the intensive care unit”.

"On Tuesday he underwent open heart surgery to replace a heart valve which was previously replaced almost 20 years ago. He also required repairs to two other valves in his heart.

“We are told his prognosis is at best uncertain. He is in an induced coma and is receiving the best of care.”

Bond’s ex-wife Eileen Bond said it was “very upsetting” and family members were “praying for the best”.

Bond was one of WA’s most prominent business figures for more than a decade, and at one stage was the nation’s largest brewer.

He also set up Australia’s first privately funded university.

Bond was part of the syndicate that won the America’s Cup in 1983, breaking the United States’ 132-year stranglehold on the title, and ending the longest winning streak in the history of sport.

The victory transcended sailing, becoming the symbol of a time when Australia came of age and made its mark on the international stage.

In 1987, Bond bought the Channel Nine television network from Kerry Packer for $1 billion.

As money grew tight, he was forced to sell the network back to Mr Packer for a pittance and in 1992, Bond was declared bankrupt.

He was jailed in the same year after being found guilty of charges arising from the collapse of Rothwells Bank.

Mr Bond was eventually acquitted after an appeal.

But in 1996 he was jailed again, this time over the purchase of a French impressionist painting, La Promenade by Manet, which was purchased by his family company Dallhold.

The next year Bond received a further jail term of four years for siphoning off $1.2 billion to prop up his ailing Bond Corporation.

He was bankrupted for $622 million, which still stands as the second-largest personal bankruptcy in history.

After a 19-year absence from the nation’s rich list, Bond resurfaced in 2008 with a personal fortune estimated to be worth $265 million.

The collapse of Bell Group was the subject of a 20-year court battle between creditors led by the Insurance Council of WA and a group of banks, which was eventually settled for $1.7 billion.

The disbursement of those funds is still the subject of a legal dispute, with the WA Government preparing to legislate how it should be shared.

no diggers edits to that article makes me sad.

Turn it off

The Chilean telecom workers whose entitlements he stole will not be upset.

Luckily, Bondy sold the company he bought from Pinochet back to Spanish Telecom who reinstated the workers’ entitlements.

Still a turd though.

no diggers edits to that article makes me sad.
Now I feel terrible. Although not as terrible as A Bond does right now.
Turn it off

The family will be, so you get your wish.

Laters

gone

I’ve always felt rather ambivalent about Bondy but there’s one thing about him that I’ve always respected (in an odd sort of way).

When the walls were crumbling around all the fast and loose players of the 80’s, Bondy hung around and took his whack whilst the others (such as Skase) all fled the country to escape justice.

I’m not holding him up as any type of role model, but I always respected him for that.

Take a stroll through downtown Perth and his influence is everywhere.

I've always felt rather ambivalent about Bondy but there's one thing about him that I've always respected (in an odd sort of way).

When the walls were crumbling around all the fast and loose players of the 80’s, Bondy hung around and took his whack whilst the others (such as Skase) all fled the country to escape justice.

I’m not holding him up as any type of role model, but I always respected him for that.


by took his whack you mean put all his money in his wife’s name declared bankrupt and faked amnesia?

Not much of a fan of corporate criminals who might go bankrupt but still live a wealthy lifestyle.

Not looking at Geoffrey Edelsten or the Pyramid thieves or anything, but it’s a target-rich environment.

I've always felt rather ambivalent about Bondy but there's one thing about him that I've always respected (in an odd sort of way).

When the walls were crumbling around all the fast and loose players of the 80’s, Bondy hung around and took his whack whilst the others (such as Skase) all fled the country to escape justice.

I’m not holding him up as any type of role model, but I always respected him for that.


by took his whack you mean put all his money in his wife’s name declared bankrupt and faked amnesia?
No...I mean that he actually stayed here, went to court and then served time....and I think it was his sons who got the money as I remember them suddenly appearing on rich lists when they had never been there before (or done anything to get such wealth)

I’d serve 4 years in a holiday camp for 1.2 billion also. Well worth it.

I can’t hate A Bond, but I didn’t lose my life savings in one of his ventures.

Things were different back then. A bit like the .com boom of the late 90’s/early 2000’s but with 1% of the accountability. If Bond said “I have an idea” investors would throw money at it. And so would the banks. He got billions with hardly ant paperwork. He’s Australia’s best ever salesman. Detail was his shortcoming.

He managed to convince Australia and large parts of the rest of the planet that winning a p*ssant boat race that only privileged twats previously cared about into man’s greatest individual achievement was unbelievable and it opened doors and wallets like never seen before or since.

The effort involved hundreds of people, millions from investors but Bond took all the credit

His influence both good and bad on Perth can’t be underestimated and it’s arguable that he’s WA’s most influential person ever.

His influence both good and bad on Perth can’t be underestimated and it’s arguable that he’s WA’s most influential person ever.

Wait til NicNat takes a mark. You’ll be eating those words.

We have a short collective memory over here.