This is the first definitive biography of this most enigmatic and controversial of business figures, a man who was inducted into the cutthroat world of journalism by his father, R C Packer, and went on to create the juggernaut that is Australian Consolidated Press. This book traces his turbulent scholastic career, his beginnings as a jackeroo and a cadet journalist, his success in the boxing ring, and his chaperoning of the first Miss Australia on a promotional tour of the United States.
What follows is a remarkable portrait of the life and times of one of Australia's most legendary media barons - his founding of ACP, his unusual partnership with former Labor premier and federal treasurer "Red Ted" Theodore, his marriages and extra-marital affairs, ministers Sir Robert Menzies and Sir William McMahon, his spectacular takeover bids and editorial interventions, his pitched battles with trade unions, his two vigorous but unsuccessful challenges for the America's Cup, and his at time uneasy relationship with his sons, Clyde and Kerry.
Based on painstaking research and extensive interviews around the world, 'Sir Frank Packer: The Young Master' provides a fascinating account of a complex and domineering man who truly made the Packer name what it is today - a byword for immense power, influence and wealth.
