Kerry Packer’s legend lives on

Australia’s richest man, Kerry Packer, has long been considered one hard-living billionaire.

Australia’s richest man, Kerry Packer, has long been considered one hard-living billionaire. Declared dead in 1990 after suffering a heart attack while playing polo, he was revived with electric shock treatment. His actions have been equally electrifying in Las Vegas, where he’s reportedly dropped million-dollar sums in one sitting. (He once bet $1 million on a single cut of the cards.) Now, the media mogul, who’s said to be worth about

$4 billion, has cheated death yet again. In November Packer needed a kidney, and he got one , from his helicopter pilot, Nicholas Ross. The odds for a speedy recovery look good. After a brief return to the hospital last month to have lymphatic fluid around the new organ removed, Packer is back at work. “He’s here, and he’s doing quite well,” says a spokeswoman for Consolidated Press Holdings, Packer’s Sydney-based media empire. “We,re pleased to say he’s well free of rejection.” Packer declines to comment on his latest adventure.

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