Packer passes away at 68

Australian tycoon Kerry Packer, the driving force behind the World Series Cricket Revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, passed away “peacefully at home with his family at his bedside”, according to a statement from his family in Sydney.

Packer owned Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL), and through it controlled both Nine Network TV in Australia alongside many magazines in the country. He was valued at US$5 billion by Forbes magazine earlier in the year.

The exact cause of the 68-year-old magnate’s death is not yet clear, but he had recently undergone a kidney transplant. As a heavy drinker and smoker, he had also been battling against cancer as well as having suffered several recent heart attacks.

Packer is survived by his wife and two children.