Alan Bond

Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was a British-born Australian businessman.

Bond was known for his role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s. He was also known for bankrolling challenges for the yachting trophy the America's Cup. Because of this he won the Australian of the Year in 1978, along with Galarrwuy Yunupingu. He finally won the trophy in 1983, which had been held by the New York Yacht Club since 1851. In 1987, he paid $1 billion for the Nine television network from Kerry Packer's PBL, before selling the network back to PBL in 1990 for $250 million. In 1997, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for fraud, and was released in 2000.

Bond was born in Hammersmith, London, England. He moved to Western Australia in 1950 at the age of 12. He was married to Eileen Hughes from 1955 until their divorce in 1992. He was later married to Diana Bliss from 1995 until her suicide in 2012. He had  four children.

Bond suffered issues after open heart surgery and was put into an induced coma on 2 June 2015 at a Perth hospital. Bond died on 5 June 2015 after surgical complications at the age of 77.

References

Category:1938 births
Category:2015 deaths
Category:Australian businesspeople
Category:Australian Roman Catholics
Category:Australian criminals
Category:Australian of the Year Award winners
Category:Fraudsters
Category:Order of Australia
Category:People from Perth, Western Australia
Category:Australian sailors