He was once Australia’s richest businessman under 40 but recently Nathan Tinkler has been scrambling to secure new finances to save his crumbling business empire.
In 2011, Tinkler counted himself amongst the nation’s billionaires but the former electrician has seen his personal wealth nose dive by $730 million to just $400 million this year.
For months the flashy empire he built has been bleeding some $2 million a day as commodity prices crashed and annoyed creditors attempted to recoup debts.
His latest efforts to steam the hemorrhaging have Tinkler looking to offload 200 broodmares and 110 racehorses from his Patinack Farms operation at the Gold Coast’s Magic Millions sales today and tomorrow.
There have been reports the former billionaire's horse business was costing him $500,000 a week, adding to his alleged debt woes in the mining and building sectors.
Tinkler’s troubles came into focus in August of this year when he was accused of failing to meet the superannuation obligations of workers at his horse-racing stables and was unable to raise $28.4 million to fulfill an obligation to buy a 34 per cent stake in coal company Blackwood Corp.
News then surfaced in October that the NSW Government was chasing Tinkler for $1.2 million in homeground stadium rent for his NRL and A-League teams. At the same time Tinkler was in court after failing to comply with an order to pay building company Mirvac $17 million to settle a property deal.
Starting out as an electrician in the mines, Tinkler built his fortune from a $1 million down payment on a Queensland coal reserve that he grew into $440 million worth of shares in Macarthur Coal.
His main asset today is a 20 per cent stake in Whitehaven Coal which is worth around $630 million. After walking away from a $5.25 billion takeover bid for the miner, Tinkler has recently been in talks with investment banks about a plan to restructure his personal loans that could shore up his finances for a second takeover run at Whitehaven, report’s the AFR.
Tinkler ditches offer for Whitehaven 24/08/12 - Whitehaven Coal's (ASX:WHC) major shareholder Nathan Tinkler walks away from his $5.2 billion takeover offer for the company.
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