james packer

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes Head To Australia

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are on the move again and old friend James Packer is helping them find a place to stay. The Australian billionaire is offering the couple his private suite on the 39th floor of the Crown Towers hotel complex while they are in Melbourne next month. Katie Holmes will be in Australia filming the production of the horror movie Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark. The large suite is being renovated for the Cruise family and the Daily Telegraph reports that an equivalent suite rents for $27,500 a night.

Source

Tags: australia, james packer, JamesPacker, katie holmes, KatieHolmes, melbourne, tom cruise, TomCruise

Then and Now: James Packer

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

Two years ago we were writing about Australian billionaire James Packer's multimillion dollar wedding but now Packer, who was once Australia's richest man (#173 on the Forbes billionaire list for 2008), is finding himself in the same financial trouble that plagues so many and is cutting back. Packer's version of cutting back looks a little different from clipping coupons or forgoing the morning latté. The Sunday Telegraph reports that Packer has put his $50 million 165-foot luxury yacht the Z Ellerston up for sale, has pushed back the purchase of a private Boeing jet and has held up construction of the huge backyard pool complex planned for Ellerston, the family property near Scone. Packer has also put a three-level apartment in London's Mayfair area up for sale. He also recently sold his stake in Consolidated Pastoral Company for about $425 million.

Don't feel too bad for Packer, he's still a billionaire, just less of a billionaire than he was a year ago. The bigger worry on the horizon for him is his Macau casino venture. Gaming revenues are on the decline in the Chinese gambling capital. Packer is involved in a joint venture to open the $2.2 billion City of Dreams hotel and casino. Packer has invested much of his own money and investors' funds in Macau so much is riding on the success of the hotel.

Source

Tags: james packer, JamesPacker

Plans For Tallest Las Vegas Casino Fall Short

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

Yet another casino has been scrapped before it ever came to be. Australian billionaire James Packer was set to build the tallest casino in Las Vegas, the Crown Las Vegas but has scrapped the project due to the credit crunch and the dicey state of the economy. The $5 billion project would have included a 5,000-room hotel on the site of the former Wet N' WIld water park along the Strip. The plans included a 1,064-foot tower which would have become the highest building in the ctiy. Marketwatch reports that Crown will take a $42 million charge against earnings. Crown holds a 37.5 percent stake in the LVTI LLC venture which was to develop the 27-acre site next to the Fontainebleau Las Vegas development.

Source

Tags: crown casion, james packer, JamesPacker, las vegas

James Packers $6 Million Wedding

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Events

The details on the richest man in Australia's $6 million dollar wedding are starting to come together, or that's what the rumor-mill says anyway. James Packer's wedding to model and singer Erica Baxter will be happening sometime this month between June 16th and June 23rd. And although not 100% confirmed, it seems pretty clear that two of the top hotels in the area -- the the Hotel du Cap Eden and the Grand Hotel du Cap -- have been booked for the event, with staff at both sidestepping details but confirming that they have been completely reserved for unnamed events by an unnamed host during those dates.

Other rumored details include chauffeurs and yachts on stand-by for transporting guests from location to location, and a ship-board civil marriage ceremony for the couple to circumvent French residency requirements.

Source

Tags: australia, ceremony, grand hotel du Cap, GrandHotelDuCap, hotel, hotel du cap eden, HotelDuCapEden, hotels, james packer, JamesPacker, marriage, packer, wedding