Unconventional is an understatement. On May 1, Harris, a former captain in the elite Special Air Service Regiment, took the Daily Planet Ltd. -- the property arm of an 18-room Melbourne brothel -- public on the Australian Stock Exchange. The IPO raised A$3.75 million ($2.45 million), and the stock (symbol: DPL) jumped fourfold in week one. Harris paid “Hollywood madam” Heidi Fleiss an undisclosed sum (per usual) to appear at the Melbourne exchange in a black miniskirt to tout the listing. Sipping champagne, Fleiss, the brothel’s “international ambassador,” described the Daily Planet as “a worthwhile investment in sex.”
Harris has other tricks up his sleeve. He and Daily Planet founder John Trimble say they’re close to buying two of Australia’s “best tabletop-dancing clubs.” After that the pair want to build a sex theme park near Las Vegas. Harris says attractions would include “elaborate ride simulators like Universal Studios’ but with a difference -- think of erotic space missions, 1950 Chevys and a theme house like the Playboy Mansion.”
Of course, the best-laid plans . . . In the month after the IPO, the excitement has worn off, with Daily Planet shares losing half their gains.
