Tinkler family sitting on $1.4bn
In the year ending 2011, Mr Tinkler paid income tax of just $9834. He expects to pay about the same next time, he revealed on Friday during a liquidator's examination of his failed private entity, Mulsanne Resources.
Mr Tinkler was being grilled in the Supreme Court in Sydney over Mulsanne's failure to pay a $28.4 million debt, but was later asked to detail his personal finances.
Tinkler Group Family Trust, he said, had assets worth about $1.4 billion and was controlled by his wife, Rebecca, who could distribute money to him tax-free.
"Is that what happens?" asked Robert Newlinds, SC, for the liquidator. "Your wife gives you money from time to time?"
Mr Tinkler said: "I'm very lucky, yes."
The trust was established before the former mine electrician, 36, hit pay dirt, selling his stake in Macarthur Coal in 2008 for $440 million.
Mr Newlinds asked Mr Tinkler how much he might draw from the fund at a time. He wasn't sure. Could he round it to the nearest $100,000? No. The nearest million? No.
Asked if his wife was the unit holder or trustee, Mr Tinkler said he believed so, but he would need to check the details. He said they had a total of about $250,000 in bank accounts.
But Mr Tinkler also agreed that he was asset-rich but cash-poor. "They are not yet cash-flow assets?" he said.
The assets in the family trust included Patinack Farm, the horse stud that he valued at $100 million after debts - "at least". They also included a major stake in Whitehaven Coal, Hunter Ports, Hunter Rail and copper explorer Aston Metals.
Mr Tinkler said the value of Tinkler Group was "not really" linked to the Whitehaven share price, which closed at $2.36 on Friday - down more than 25 per cent this year and less than half the $5.58 peak after last year's merger with listed Aston Resources and private Boardwalk Investments.
Mr Tinkler owns 196 million Whitehaven shares, which, at today's price of $2.34, makes his stake worth about $463 million.
Mr Tinkler said the stock was a "very illiquid" stock and it was "very hard to get a large strategic stake" in Whitehaven.
The numbers swirling around Friday's evidence clashed at times. Mr Newlinds turned Mr Tinkler's mention of $1.4 billion for the trust into $1.2 billion at next mention. He asked Mr Tinkler if that included liabilities. Yes, about $600 million. So that left a net worth of $600 million, Mr Tinkler agreed.
Earlier in the day, Mr Tinkler had put the total debts for the Tinkler group at "probably around $500 million".
Mr Tinkler has told the court that, as the global price for coal collapsed, he discovered he could not raise the money to fulfil the deal from financiers or, from his preferred source, by selling his royalty stream from the Middlemount coal mine to the Noble Group. Noble owns 51 per cent of Blackwood.
The coal boss reckoned he had a verbal agreement with Noble director Will Randall, and that they had done much bigger deals in the past this way. But Mr Newlinds - challenging this claim - persistently quizzed Mr Tinkler on why he kept "no email, no letter, no note" that recorded these
discussions.
A day before the deadline to settle of July 19 last year, Mr Tinkler told the court he could not reach Mr Randall. He "just went off line . . . I pretty quickly worked out I had been hung out to dry".
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
Mr Tinkler told a liquidator's examination the Tinkler Group Family Trust held roughly $1.4 billion in assets (he later referred to $1.2 billion), but acknowledged about $600 million of liabilities — leaving a net position he described around $600 million. He also said total Tinkler group debts were probably around $500 million, so reported figures were somewhat inconsistent under questioning.
Tinkler explained most of his wealth is tied up in illiquid assets — for example the family trust holds properties, mining stakes and a horse stud — while he reported only about $250,000 across bank accounts. He said many trust assets were "not yet cash-flow assets," making it hard to convert value into ready cash.
Mr Tinkler said he paid just $9,834 in income tax in the year ending 2011 and expected to pay about the same amount in the next tax period, according to his evidence at the examination.
The trust's assets mentioned in the hearing include Patinack Farm (the horse stud, valued by Tinkler at about $100 million after debts), a major stake in Whitehaven Coal, interests in Hunter Ports and Hunter Rail, and holdings in copper explorer Aston Metals (linked to the previous Aston Resources).
Tinkler owns 196 million Whitehaven shares. The article noted the stock closed at $2.36 on a Friday and was trading around $2.34 when valued, which makes his stake roughly $463 million at that price — although he described the stock as very illiquid and hard to sell in large blocks.
Mulsanne Resources, a private entity linked to Tinkler, failed to pay a $28.4 million debt. Mr Tinkler was being questioned in the Supreme Court in Sydney during a liquidator's examination over Mulsanne's failure to meet that liability.
Yes. Tinkler told the court that as global coal prices fell he could not raise the money to complete a deal, including by selling a royalty stream from the Middlemount coal mine to the Noble Group. He said he believed he had a verbal agreement with Noble director Will Randall but could not reach him the day before settlement and felt he had been "hung out to dry." The article also notes Noble owns 51% of Blackwood.
No — the figures presented in the hearing were inconsistent at times. Tinkler mentioned $1.4 billion for the trust, later $1.2 billion; he confirmed about $600 million of liabilities against those assets, and separately put group debts at around $500 million. These discrepancies were highlighted during questioning by the liquidator's counsel.
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