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Once-Richest Aussie Dumps His Playthings

With fortune halved by downturn, James Packer selling $50M yacht, postpones pool

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 19, 2009 4:16 PM CST

(Newser) – The recession is forcing one of Australia's richest men to cut back on the playboy life, the Sunday Telegraph reports. James Packer, son of media mogul Kerry Packer, is selling his $50 million yacht, halting the construction of a $3 million pool complex at his family home, and pushing back delivery of a $60 million Boeing jet—the one Rupert Murdoch owns—the Independent adds.

Packer, whose assets are now worth half the $6 billion they were last year, is said to have grown reclusive, overweight, and depressed. The yacht he's unloading, a 165-foot Mangusta 165, is the world's largest open yacht. It has nine bedrooms and comes with a complimentary Aston Martin.

James Packer in 2004.
James Packer in 2004.   (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
James Packer, left, and wife Erica Baxter in 2007.
James Packer, left, and wife Erica Baxter in 2007.   (AP Photo/Str)
Packer is selling his Mangusta 165 yacht, one of only a handful in the world.
Packer is selling his Mangusta 165 yacht, one of only a handful in the world.   (Yachtopolis)
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