THE NATHAN TINKLER DEMISE - THE LATEST CHAPTER

By Graham Potter | Thursday, February 11, 2016

It is not immediately apparent as being a racing story but it will very much attract racing participant’s interest, even if they have been merely flipping through the pages waiting to read what is likely to be one of the final chapters in the story of Nathan Tinkler’s business world.

Like those who have only a passing interest, I certainly don’t know all of the details pertaining to events that led to the former coal magnet being declared bankrupt in Australia’s Federal Court ... nor, do I imagine, would many racing participants care about the outcome. (*Federal Court Judge Jacqueline Gleeson’s ruling has been put on a stay of proceedings, pending the lodging of an appeal).

Tinker’s involvement in racing has meant different things to different people at different times.

Truth is, Tinkler arrived like a whirlwind in racing and ultimately travelled a turbulent path until the Tinkler storm finally ran out of steam (both in terms of finance and gusto), faltered, flat-lined and all but disappeared ... except for initially leaving behind debt reported to be in the high millions of dollars, much of which has now been resolved,

Tinkler is the best placed to determine whether he was unlucky or reckless in his business dealings ... who whether it was the plummeting coal price that caused it all ... and those who have had business dealings with him, on all levels of the food chain from Magic Millions supremo Gerry Harvey all the way down, are best placed to judge his integrity ... so there is no need to speculate on that here.

Suffice to say that there is sure to be some very hard-line opinions in play.

Trying to go too big, too quickly with too much diversification instead of concentrated focus ... well, that’s what can happen to you when you find yourself as Australia’s youngest billionaire with seemingly ongoing, almost unlimited financial resources.

But times change.

Since then, much more than water has flowed under the bridge. Tinkler’s tide of good fortune reversed and washed away most of what he had built up in happier days.

His position came under pressure from various fronts. News coverage of his legal battles increased. He denied. He questioned details of allegations that were produced against him. He asked for more time ... but in the end, he found time was as much in short supply as the dollar.

The bankruptcy ruling stems from a complaint from GE Commercial Australasia Pty. They claimed Tinkler owed US$2.25 million (S$3.14 million) on a Dassault Falcon 900C he once owned.

What is owed in the complaint is just a meagre percentage of the $18 million Tinkler spent at just one sale when he announced his arrival on the scene at the Magic Millions sale in January 2008.

His demise, in some ways, has been as spectacular.

As far as his racing endeavours were concerned though, the Tinkler story merely added yet another chapter to the book cataloguing those who thought money was a means to taming the game only to come up well short of the mark.

It just doesn’t work that way.

For the record though, on the up side, the gamble doesn’t have to be that big to come out a big winner.

Ask Joe Janiak!

The bottom line is that, while the Tinkler racing episode will ultimately go down as a sorry one, it does rubber-stamp the age old racing law that the sport can bring down kings as easily as it raise a battler to high prominence and success.

That is what will always make it such a fascinating game, no matter who is passing through at the time.

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