Tough times as James Packer makes do with a $60 million payday

Opinion

November 3, 2026 — 5:00am

James Packer’s family company Consolidated Press Holdings may not offer the full picture of the billionaire’s wealth. But we weren’t entirely sure what to make of the sharp fall in cash recorded by the investment vehicle in the past financial year.

CPH is part of the global web of holding companies used by Packer to manage his shareholdings in mostly American companies. So imagine our surprise to find fresh documents filed with the corporate regulator showing the investment vehicle’s revenues slumped to $101.6 million from the bumper $5.9 billion recorded the previous year. CPH booked a further $267.5 million in fair value adjustments. The documents show CPH received $4.8 billion in dividends from controlled entities in 2025, but nothing in the 2026 financial year.

Sadly, our efforts to find out why went unanswered. But we can’t imagine Packer will be feeling all that bad about it. He is still in line for a payday to the tune of $60 million, in the form of a dividend set out in the filing, down on the $100 million reported last year.

It’s been a busy year for Packer. In August, this masthead revealed the former owner of Nine, publisher of this masthead, had returned to investing in US tech companies, including a stake in computer chip manufacturer Nvidia, then worth about $422 million.

He’s been busy away from the market, too. It was only last week this masthead revealed he had paid at least $1.78 million to the Tel Aviv law firm that is also defending Benjamin Netanyahu against allegations the Israeli prime minister corruptly received benefits from the billionaire and other supporters a decade ago.

Then there was his low-key Mediterranean wedding. Packer, as regular readers may recall, married Canadian-born former model Kylie Lim at a private ceremony on the Italian island of Sardinia this year; the couple were reportedly engaged in March. The nuptials were Lim’s first, according to reporting from the time.

But for Packer, well, let’s just hope the third time’s a charm.

Guess who?

Which billionaire offspring was the talk of Sydney’s inner east on the eve of Halloween?

Whisper is the multimillion-dollar home of a lesser-known child of one of the nation’s wealthiest people played host to what sounded like a fun Halloween party on Saturday night. CBD spies reported hearing Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe fade into Chicken Banana of Dancing Fruit fame from the street. We hope the kids enjoyed themselves!

NSW state media

NSW Premier Chris Minns may not have officially kicked into election mode. But it would appear his army of staffers is already trying to drum up interest in government initiatives under the guise of, er, an Instagram news outlet.

“JUST IN: The first metro service has left Bankstown,” reads the opening line of a caption accompanying the first post dashed off to coincide with the opening of Sydney Metro’s southwest line.

The account in question carries the username “newsnsw”, and appears strikingly similar to an initiative rolled out by the increasingly unpopular Carroll government south of the border, called “vicnewstoday”.

One key difference, though, was the Victorian government propaganda account includes an “Authorised by S. Staikos, Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch)” disclosure in its bio. The NSW account merely encourages lost souls to “Keep up to date with news from NSW govt”.

“This is a Labor affiliated social media page, consistent with the practices of all major political parties and a significant number of minor parties across Australia,” a Minns government spokesman told CBD.

Shortly after we received this comment, a disclosure appeared in the account bio. What a coincidence.

DC watch party

Now this sounds like it’ll be, er, interesting. The National Press Club is hosting a US Midterm Elections watch party on Wednesday, which promises live coverage of the results on the big screens from 11am replete with an “exclusive US themed all day menu”.

“From classic American favourites to delicious bites, enjoy a taste of the USA while following all the election action!” reads the email invite sent last week.

Prospective guests can look forward to watching the votes roll in with Nambucca Heads oysters in hand. Also on offer: $15 hot dogs, mini Hawaiian pizzas (also $15), and “classic American nachos” with beef and toppings for $24. There will also be a selection of Sweet Baby Rays BBQ wing ribs with slaw, apple pie for dessert, and, of course, some Coors. We look forward to the wash-up.

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John Buckley is a CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.

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