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Deleted member 29185
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Very true. I feel very, very sorry for the investors who lost (sometimes) their entire investments, but there are plenty of other factors to consider.
In Skase's case, he was one of the rare corporate raiders who didn't just strip a carcass, but built some very real and lasting benefits for the Qld economy. A corporate raider with vision. Yes he was greedy, but he also did well for Qld. If Skase didn't lose his nerve and flee, I believe he would have had a genuine case and the real villians were the lecherious liquidators who onsold assets for just a pittance. Skase's board room table was sold to Stefan for $2000. It was worth so much more than that and Stefan then cut it up into pieces and placed one piece in each of his salons. I only heard of the auction after the fact although I had registered interest with the liquidators and was waiting for it (I would have paid 5 times the Stefen amount and it'd still be the prized table it was rather than a collection of blow-dryer tables for a hairdressing chain). IIRC, that table cost Skase over $30000.
Skase, Bond, Williams, Gore all made mistakes, but failure mode effect analysis' usually only go to one or two levels. Those guys faced three simultaneous financial attacks on their businesses, including the 1989 Pilots strike. Some of their subsequent actions were deplorable, but they were not the sole instigators of the calamitous losses suffered by many. Those were dark tmes for Australia, which I personally hope never to see again.
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