Who is Australia's best entrepreneur?

[Amanda - AT Forum Admin]

Australia has a good tradition of entrepreneurs. However, who is our best current entrepreneur? Does age count? Do you know everyone on the list? Who else shpould be a contender?

[Jake The Ripper]

dick smith but he pretends to be like bill gates, all nerdy and stuff.

[The King Game]

None of them.

John Singleton is tired and broken. He should retire.

Dick Smith is too busy building a legacy for himself.

Nathan Tinkler got lucky in a mining boom.

James Packer inherited everything.

... and the last two, that's not an entrepreneur. They are entrepreneurs!!!

[Jake The Ripper]

gotta agree with king! this list is kinda sad. how about harry triguboff, richard pratt (i think he just died???), malcolm turnbull or even kevin rudd's missus. i guess rupert murdoch is out because he is a us citizen now.

[Eugene]

Greg Norman would be the nations best sporting entrepreneur, and would be up there in the top realm of entrepreneur in the country.

[Dubbo Pete]

What about some of the movie stars? Nicole Kidman. Russell Crowe. If they produce their own movies then that is entrepreneurial.

[Dunworking]

I'd have had Kerry Packer in there personally. Unafraid to court controversy (for those of you who are younger, his decision to break the apartheid boycott for sport in South Africa makes for great reading), Packer was ballsy guy who didn't mind ruffling a few feathers. In the modern age, he'd be a dinosaur. Back in his day, he was a forward-thinking genius who was years ahead of his time and it's no surprise that his legacy lives on. One-Tel aside, the man was a money printing machine until his unfortunate death in 2005.

[Jake The Ripper]

I'd have had Kerry Packer in there personally. Unafraid to court controversy (for those of you who are younger, his decision to break the apartheid boycott for sport in South Africa makes for great reading), Packer was ballsy guy who didn't mind ruffling a few feathers. In the modern age, he'd be a dinosaur. Back in his day, he was a forward-thinking genius who was years ahead of his time and it's no surprise that his legacy lives on. One-Tel aside, the man was a money printing machine until his unfortunate death in 2005.

yeah, but he is dead!

[Dunworking]

There goes my old age and senility again. I didn't realise we were talking about current entrepreneurs but Amanda has definitely mentioned that in the first post.

With that in mind, I'm going to plump for Murdoch. I know he's no longer an Australian, but you could argue that Hollywood has sapped the Aussie spirit from the likes of Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe as well. Like Kerry Packer, Murdoch is hardly a popular figure. However, his global stranglehold on the biggest sporting export in the world (English football) is incredible and he's made their game a money-making machine in places such as Malaysia, Thailand and Japan. Something the Brits couldn't do in over 100 years!

He might be American now, but I believe you are essentially what you are because of where you come from. Murdoch. Definitely.

[Christy007]

Thanks for nice discussion on this topic. I will give my vote to Norman !!

[RebeccaR]

Great list

[conmonroy]

Can i vote for King.. heehee..
:D

[EmilyF]

No. We try not to encourage him around here. ;)

[Dubbo Pete]

Why would you want to vote for that bozo? Are you stoned?

[The King Game]

Can i vote for King.. heehee..
:D

You may. The easiest way is to send a cheque to ...

[The King Game]

Hey Dumbo, start by looking in the mirror.

[Dunworking]

I see James Packer is throwing in plans for another casino with the promise of new prosperity and jobs in Sydney. I'm not a big advocate of the gambling industry anyway but do we really need more places to throw our money away?

[The King Game]

Just what Australians need. More gambling facilities. More places to siphon our dollars back to government (through taxes) and rich hereditary families (like the Packers).

[kristen]

Greg Norman

[The Business Tutor]

Just what Australians need. More gambling facilities. More places to siphon our dollars back to government (through taxes) and rich hereditary families (like the Packers).

This.

It's beyond an obsession anyway. Work all day to earn it. Climb over each other like idiots to give it all back. I hope they stop this going ahead, but who's going to argue with the Packer millions and win?

[Dunworking]

This.

It's beyond an obsession anyway. Work all day to earn it. Climb over each other like idiots to give it all back. I hope they stop this going ahead, but who's going to argue with the Packer millions and win?

I can assure you they won't be getting any of mine. I enjoy a bit of poker but losing silly money on the spin of a wheel or the press of a button has never appealed to me. I'm not that good at poker either but at least you always have a chance with something like that.

As the wonderful Robert de Niro says in the film, Casino: "In the end, we get it all".

Not from me though!

[johnkerr]

Murdoch gets my vote too