Nine

"In January 1987 Stokes was moored off Rottnest Island when the time came to call Kerry Packer and bid on Nine. He paddled a dinghy to shore and queued in his shorts and thongs to use a telephone box to ring Packer in Sydney. He didn’t have any change, so had to make a reverse-charge call. He knew what Alan Bond was offering. ‘I’ll offer 50 cents more than Alan Bond if I can get some support from you,’ he recalls telling Packer. By ‘support’ he meant a break on programming costs, which Packer could control because he had long-standing deals with American production houses. Stokes also suggested he would be a more stable owner for Nine than Bond. Packer grudgingly agreed, but it didn’t help. That night the news broke that Bond had offered another $1 a share, putting his total bid above the billion-dollar mark. It was an offer Packer could not refuse and Stokes would not match, especially the extra $50 million of borrowed money he says Bond grafted on top of the agreed price, like a cherry on a cake. The two Kerrys sat back to wait for Bond to implode. Watchers weren’t sure where the extra $50 million went but some speculated most of it would find its way back to Bond. He was clever like that."

"Whereas Packer’s Nine was a dictatorship that ran on fear of failure, Stokes has created a culture where there’s no such fear. ‘That comes from the chairman’s office all the way down,’ says Worner. ‘It’s not okay to fail repeatedly but it’s definitely okay to fail. When something tanks in the ratings he calls and you see his extension number come up and you think, “Oh, my God”, but he says, “That’s okay. Learn from it. Look for the next thing.” ‘Having no fear of failure in a creative organisation is very important. He understands that better than anyone.’ The surfer who loves football metaphors suddenly switches sports: ‘You’ve got to keep swinging for the fences, got to keep having a go.’"

"Packer states as fact he could not be close to Stokes if he were still running Nine. Playing business as a blood sport runs in the genes. Packer’s attitude that business rivalry endangers friendship seems to stand up. Stokes is on good terms with anyone he isn’t competing with."