Boganaire: The Rise and Fall of Nathan Tinkler

by Paddy Manning

From blue collar to billionaire ...

Hunter Valley mine electrician Nathan Tinkler borrowed big in 2005, made a fortune from several speculative coal plays, and by 2011 was a self-made billionaire. He had gambled and won, but his volatility and reluctance to pay his debts were making him enemies. He lived the high life as only a young man would, buying luxury homes, private jets, sports cars and football teams, and splurging massively to build a horseracing empire.

But Tinkler’s dreams had extended beyond even his resources, and his business model worked only in a rising market. When coal prices slumped in 2012, Tinkler had no cash flow to service his massive borrowings and no allies to help him recover. Within months he was trying desperately to stave off his creditors, large and small, and fighting to save his businesses and his fortune.

In this impressive new biography, leading business writer Paddy Manning tells the story of Tinkler’s meteoric rise to wealth, and captures the drama of his equally rapid downfall.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Business

306 pages, Paperback

First published November 18, 2013

About the author

Paddy Manning is the editor of The Monthly Today, the daily newsletter produced by The Monthly. During almost twenty years in journalism he has worked for Crikey, The Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review and The Australian, and reported for ABC TV’s Four Corners. A three-time winner in the Citigroup Journalism Awards for Excellence, Manning founded the magazine Ethical Investor.

Reviews

[Andrew Saul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paddy Manning is one to watch for the future. I loved this book and reminded me very much of Paul Barry and Michael Lewis in terms of the style of writing and the quality of research that has gone into it. Tinkler is a Alan Bond-like story, full of crazy situations and high stakes business ventures.

The way Tinkler has treated working class people, of whom he is squarely one, in his business and personal dealings is terrible. Yet the fact that they remain one of his biggest group of supporters is a larger analogy for how people from these groups in society see themselves and what expectations they generally have for their own lives.

I finished this book in pretty much two extended sittings and this was partly because Manning goes a little too far into the blow-by-blow account of the financials of Tinkler's deals, and I ended up skimming through these pages. Manning isn't able to get a higher view of what was going on and summarise it at regular intervals (like Lewis or Barry does) to keep the reader in touch with the overall situation but not enough to disengage from the main story.

However this is a minor quibble in what is otherwise a really good book and an outstanding piece of journalistic research. I hope Manning is able to continue doing research like this as it is vital to the health of any society to be able to lift a lid on what goes on behind the scenes in big business; both the good and the bad.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full marks to Paddy Manning on the sheer level of research that has gone into the book. Writing a book like this is one thing, writing one with little co-operation from those who have had dealings with Nathan Tinkler is another thing entirely. Through no fault of the author, it loses a bit of 'blood' as a result. Still, it's a remarkable study of someone who lived up to the books title : Australia's youngest billionaire and arguably the quickest to become an 'un-billionaire'. Tinkler gets a lot of street cred for rising from such humble roots, but there's no escaping the fact that he's a very ordinary human being. There's nothing wrong with 'bogan' ... there's plenty wrong with being a grub.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazingly readable given the material. Congratulations to the author for pulling this off. A well-written account that required tenacity, incredible research and sources, and iteration of details that might without his engaging touch have been too weighty to bear. To be honest, I skipped through a couple of passages, more because the infamous subject's endless quest for glory was underwhelming and lacking dignity. However, neither this opinion or that I was glad to turn the last page is any reflection on the author.

[Andrew Waltho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boganaire is a superb account of everything that's wrong with Australian business, the mining industry in particular. Manning describes Nathan Tinkler's charmed life, funded by other peoples' money with revealing clarity. Thoroughly good read.

[Nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

What an interesting individual.