Nathan Tinkler (born 1 February 1976) is an Australian mining industry executive and was previously the principal shareholder of Aston Resources[1] and Whitehaven Coal.[2] He started out as a mining apprentice in the Hunter Valley, in New South Wales and set up his own business at age 26. Much of his wealth was acquired from investments in the mining industry.
Tinkler qualified as an electrician at the MuswellbrookTAFE[3] and commenced his involvement in the coal industry as an apprentice electrical fitter for Bayswater Coal. At aged 26, he started his own mine machinery maintenance business called Custom Mining.
In 2006, Tinkler paid a $1 million deposit to buy the Middlemount coal mine in Central Queensland. A year later, he sold his Middlemount stake to Macarthur Coal for $275 million with the payment largely in shares. In May 2008 Tinkler sold his Macarthur shares for A$422million[4][5] in cash.
Tinkler was named by BRW magazine in September 2008 as Australia’s richest person aged 40 or less with a stated net worth of $441 million at age 32.[6]
In 2008, Tinkler purchased the Maules Creek Mine coal deposit in New South Wales for $480 million from Rio Tinto and floated the vehicle for the deposit, Aston Resources Limited, in 2010 with a valuation of $1.2 billion.[7]
In early 2012, Tinkler was named by BRW magazine as Australia’s youngest billionaire with a stated net worth of more than $1.18 billion.[8]
In May 2012, Tinkler merged Aston Resources Limited and another coal mining company controlled by him, Boardwalk Resources, with Whitehaven Coal creating a leading independent coal mining company with market capitalisation in excess of $5 billion.[9]
In June 2013, Tinkler’s shareholding in Whitehaven Coal was sold to his main financial backers.[10]
In 2014, Tinkler was called to give evidence before the Independent Commission Against Corruption over allegations of illegal donations to New South Wales politicians. He denied any wrongdoing and no corruption finding was made against him.
Tinker was appointed Managing Director of Australian Pacific Coal Limited in 2015.[11]
In February 2016, Tinkler was declared bankrupt by the Federal Court with his bankruptcy subsequently annulled in August 2018.[12]
In December 2018, entities associated with Tinkler commenced proceedings in the New South Wales Supreme Court against Whitehaven Coal seeking compensation in relation to the 2012 acquisition of Boardwalk Resources Limited.
Other business interests
In 2008, Tinkler established a racehorse enterprise, Patinack Farm, which became one of Australia’s largest locally owned racing organisations, experiencing tremendous success in a short period of time. This success is highlighted by eight individual Group1 winners, more than 40 stake winners and over 200 metropolitan victories.
Patinack Farm consisted of three major properties including Sandy Hollow a 3,300 acre breeding facility, a 1,000 acre training facility and stud at Canungra on the Gold Coast and 950 acres of undeveloped horse country at Monegeeta, Victoria. Patinack Farm owned as many as 600 broodmares, along with some of the highest potential stallions in Australia. Tinkler sold Patinack Farm in 2014.[13]
Sporting interests
The Newcastle Jets hosted a community day at which 10,000 fans were admitted free for the clash against Melbourne Heart on 31 October 2010.[14][15] Membership of the club increased to over 10,000 and the club obtained the Hunter Medical Research Institute as a new sponsor.
On 31 March 2011 Tinkler assumed ownership of the Newcastle Knightsrugby league club by a landslide vote of the eligible club members.[16][17] The Knights signed Wayne Bennett to a four-year coaching contract with the club, starting in 2012.
In April 2012 Tinkler handed back the Newcastle Jets A-league licence to the FFA.[18] The Federation said that Tinkler's Hunter Sports Group could not just hand back its licence, and was breaching a binding contract by walking away from the Jets.[19] Federation chief executive Ben Buckley refused to rule out the possibility of launching a damages claim against Tinkler that could go as high as $80million.[20]
In May 2015, after Newcastle Jets players and staff had not been paid for a month, Tinkler placed the Newcastle Jets into voluntary administration, listing debts of $2.7million. That resulted in the Football Federation of Australia terminating Tinkler's A-League licence, held by Hunter Sports Group. It was the culmination of a soccer season in which the Jets recorded their worst-ever results on the way to collecting the competition's wooden spoon.[21]
Corruption allegations
At a hearing of the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on 28 April 2014, it was revealed that Tinkler's Patinack Farm horse stud paid $66,000 to "Eightbyfive", a slush fund set up by an advisor to the allegedly corrupt NSW politician Chris Hartcher.[22] A few days later, text messages presented at the commission revealed that Tinkler's property development company, Buildev, had secretly paid $50,000 to produce anonymous flyers attacking Jodi McKay, the local state parliamentarian, in the lead-up to the 2011 state election, because she opposed the billion-dollar plan by Buildev to establish a coal export terminal in Newcastle.[23]
Financial difficulties
On Melbourne Cup day 2012, Tinkler's private horse racing trainer, John Thompson, revealed that Tinkler's stable of horses had been forced to go without feed because the group was unable to pay suppliers. Thompson also said that Tinkler's racing and breeding company, Patinack Farm, had been asked to leave its Hawkesbury private training facility because "the owner of the property just got sick of us being late with our rent". However a spokesman for Tinkler said Patinack Farm had never run out of feed.[24]
In December 2012, the Australian Taxation Office filed court documents to wind up Tinkler's Hunter Sports Group. The action came two weeks after two of Tinkler's companies were placed into liquidation. Hunter Sports Group owed around A$2.7 million in unpaid taxes and was notified of this debt in September 2012.[25]
On 18 February 2013, it was reported that the liquidator of Nathan Tinkler's private company, Patinack Farm Administration, was considering an insolvent trading claim against Tinkler and his fellow director Troy Palmer.[26] On 2 April 2013 it was revealed that Tinkler had put his entire racing and breeding business up for sale, including stock and properties.[27]
In May 2013, it was reported that Tinkler and his wife could be made bankrupt over A$440,000 in allegedly unpaid bills to a corporate adviser.[28] In the same month, the BRW Rich 200 estimated that Tinkler was beset by a series of debt problems and falling asset values that devalued his 2012 net wealth of A$915 million to A$235 million.[29]
On 19 June 2013, it was announced that Tinkler's biggest remaining asset, a 19 per cent share in coal miner Whitehaven, had been bought by his main financial backers, including Farallon Management. It was estimated that the sale price of $2.96 per share represented a substantial loss by Tinkler's backers on their loans to him. Nevertheless, the sale of his share in Whitehaven was seen as part of his struggle to repay debts accumulated by other parts of his crumbling empire.[30] The funds raised by the sale of his Whitehaven shares enabled Tinkler to repay a $12 million debt to coal exploration company Blackwood Resources on 27 June, a day ahead of schedule.[31]
On 3 September 2013, Tinkler's company, Aston Metals, a base metals explorer then owning five projects around Mt Isa, was placed in the hands of receivers.[32]
On 21 May 2014, it was reported that contracts had been exchanged to sell Patinack Farm, for an undisclosed sum, to a consortium consisting of "local and overseas parties from the Middle East".[33]
On 20 July 2015, an arrest warrant was ordered for Tinkler after he failed to appear in the Supreme Court in Adelaide to answer questions about the liquidation of his Patinack horse farm. The liquidator had taken action in the South Australian Supreme Court over unpaid debts, and asked the court to issue a warrant for Tinkler's arrest, saying he had shown a "flagrant disregard" for the court.[34]
On 19 and 20 November of the same year, Tinkler was served with two statutory demands by the Deputy Commissioner of Taxation, alleging that his company, Aston Resources Investments, owed $6.4 million in tax, and that Tinkler Group Holdings Administration owed $3.5 million.[35] On 9 February 2016, he was the subject of a bankruptcy hearing over a $2.8 million debt to GE Commercial Finance relating to the sale of his private jet aeroplane. Federal Court judge, Jacqueline Gleeson, ruled GE was entitled to make Tinkler, then resident in Singapore, bankrupt, but stayed the order pending an urgent appeal. On 2 March 2016, Tinkler failed to lodge an appeal in the required time and so was officially declared bankrupt. He told his bankruptcy trustee that he only had one asset, a farm near the NSW north coast town of Port Macquarie, which has caveats held on it by retailer Gerry Harvey and the local council.[36]
Related Research Articles
James Douglas Packer is an Australian billionaire businessman and investor. Packer is the son of Kerry Packer, a media mogul, and his wife, Roslyn Packer. He is the grandson of Sir Frank Packer. He inherited control of the family company, Consolidated Press Holdings Limited, as well as investments in Crown Resorts and other companies. He is the former executive chairman of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) and Consolidated Media Holdings, which predominantly owned media interests across a range of platforms, and a former executive chairman of Crown Resorts.
Antony Harold Curties Windsor, is a former Australian politician. Windsor was an independent member for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Tamworth from 1991 to 2001 − supporting the incumbent Greiner Liberal/National Coalition minority government at the 1991 election.
Mark Anthony James Vaile served as the 12th deputy prime minister of Australia and the leader of the National Party of Australia. Vaile is currently a non-executive director of a number of public listed corporations.
Matthew James Johns is an Australian rugby league media personality, commentator and former professional player. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative five-eighth, Johns played his club football primarily with the Newcastle Knights, alongside his younger brother, Andrew. Since March 2011, Johns has been a co-host on the Triple M Sydney breakfast show called The Grill Team with Mark Geyer. Since 2012, Johns has been a part of the Fox Sports NRL coverage. He had his own show on Channel 7 for one season in 2010, The Matty Johns Show and since 2013 has hosted a rugby league analysis and light entertainment show on Foxtel airing two nights each week.
Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was formed in 2000 when it joined the National Soccer League (NSL) and was one of only three former NSL clubs to join in the formation of the A-League.
BRW was an Australian business magazine published by the Fairfax Media group. The magazine was headquartered in Melbourne. It regularly compiled lists which rank corporations and individuals according to various criteria, similar to Fortune magazine in the United States. BRW provided news and commentary on the economy, business and investment in Australia. The magazine reported on successful business strategies, investments and entrepreneurialism. Cover stories and features concentrated on ways to make money and improve businesses. Each week BRW focused on a sector or topic relevant to business people or investors.
Georgina Hope Rinehart is an Australian mining magnate and heiress. Rinehart is the executive chairwoman of Hancock Prospecting, a privately owned mineral exploration and extraction company founded by her father, Lang Hancock.
Con Constantine is a Cypriot Australian businessman and the former owner of the Australian football (soccer) club Newcastle United Jets.
Joel Griffiths is an Australian professional football manager who currently serves as the manager of Newcastle Olympic FC for National Premier Leagues Northern NSW and retired professional football striker.
The 2006–07 A-League was the 30th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the second season of the A-League since its establishment the previous season. Football Federation Australia hoped to build on the success of the first season and on the interest generated by the Socceroos competing in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Fox Sports had signed a A$120 million deal over 7 years for the exclusive broadcast rights of the A-League, AFC Champions League, and national team matches.
Jodi Leyanne McKay is an Australian former politician who was the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales from June 2019 until May 2021. She previously served as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing Strathfield for the Labor Party from 2015 to 2021. McKay also previously represented Newcastle for one term from 2007 until her defeat at the 2011 election. Between 2008 and 2011, McKay held a number of junior ministerial responsibilities in the Rees and Keneally governments, including serving as the Minister for the Hunter, Tourism, Small Business, Science and Medical Research, Commerce, and Women, and Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer). On 17 October 2021, McKay announced she would resign from the parliament, which triggered a by-election in her seat of Strathfield. McKay subsequently became National Chair of the Australia India Business Council.
John Andrew Henry Forrest, nicknamed Twiggy, is an Australian businessman. He is best known as the former CEO of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), and has other interests in the mining industry and in cattle stations.
Greg Coffey is an Australian hedge fund manager based in London. Nicknamed "The Wizard of Oz" during his time at GLG Partners and Moore Capital Management, in 2012 he declared retirement at the age of 41 and returned to Sydney. In early 2018, Coffey's plans to launch a new fund were announced.
The Financial Review Rich List, formerly known as the BRW Rich 200, is a list of Australia's two hundred wealthiest individuals and families, ranked by personal net worth published annually in The Australian Financial Review Magazine, a supplement of The Australian Financial Review, published by Nine Publishing. The list provides a short summary on some of the known business activities of the individuals and families, together with commentary on how their ranking has changed from the previous year, if listed.
Mark Sean Jones is a former Australian association football player. He last served as manager of the Newcastle Jets.
Clive Frederick Palmer is an Australian businessman and former politician. He has iron ore, nickel, and coal holdings. Palmer owns many businesses such as Mineralogy, Waratah Coal, Queensland Nickel at Townsville, the Palmer Coolum Resort on the Sunshine Coast, Palmer Sea Reef Golf Course at Port Douglas, Palmer Colonial Golf Course at Robina, and the Palmer Gold Coast Golf Course, also at Robina. He owned Gold Coast United FC from 2008 to 2012. Palmer created the Palmer United Party in April 2013, winning the Sunshine Coast seat of Fairfax in the 2013 Australian federal election and sitting as an MP for one term.
The Newcastle Jets 2010–11 season was the Newcastle Jets' sixth season since the inception of the Australian A-League and the tenth since the club's founding, in 2000.
The History of the Newcastle Jets FC starts at their inception in 2000 by businessman Con Constantine after the collapse of the city's previous football club the Newcastle Breakers. The Breakers were dissolved when Soccer Australia revoked its NSL licence at the conclusion of the 1999/2000 season. At the formation of Newcastle United the home ground was moved back to where Newcastle KB United played, now known as EnergyAustralia Stadium.
A marquee player is a player whose wage is paid outside the A-League Men salary cap, with an unlimited salary. Furthermore, there are designated players since the 2021–22 A-League Men season, who are players whose wage is paid outside the salary cap, but have to be in the $300,000 to $600,000 range.
Whitehaven Coal is an Australian coal mining company.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
