Forbes – It’s tempting to paint James Packer as the billionaire heir who lucked into a winning hand on Macau casinos, but the reality is more complex. Packer–and his advisors–were ahead of many in seeing the business potential of the Internet and China’s emergence as a 21st-century powerhouse.
The moves seem obvious now, but back in 1998, when Packer set up Australian online news portal Nine-MSN, or in 2004, when he was an early-stage investor in Australian jobs site Seek.com, or in 2005, when he grabbed a stake in carsales.com , these were viewed as highly risky ventures. All three have netted Packer big profits. “At a very macro level there are two main themes for me–the rise of the Internet and the rise of China,” Packer says of his overall investment strategy. “The rise of the Internet is only 20% along the way, and China is still in an early phase.”
Packer says he now has roughly half a billion dollars invested in various Internet plays, including Chinese online jobs site Zhaopin and U.S. real estate website Zillow Z +2.37%. Zhaopin has flagged an initial public offering this year, valuing Packer’s 22% stake at $130 million. His 9.35% stake in Zillow, bought over six months last year for $250 million, prompted some observers to question his timing after Zillow’s shares had more than tripled over the previous year. He’s confident, however. “The Internet will play out for property in the U.S. the way it has in other jurisdictions, including Australia,” he says.
