Who’s Mariah Carey’s New Billionaire Fiancé, James Packer?
The Internet went into overdrive last night with the news that Mariah Carey is engaged to her boyfriend of one year, Australian billionaire James Packer—the reports have officially been confirmed by Carey’s representatives. It’s not just the impending wedding everyone’s buzzing about, but the huge rock Packer proposed with: Some reports say the diamond is a whopping 35 carats, and others estimate the ring’s worth $7.5 million. Yes, million.
Carey and Packer have been friends since 2014, when they met in Aspen at a movie premiere. Mariah told Steve Harvey in November, “We were talking and laughing and people were getting mad at us and stuff like that. So, we hit it off.” When Harvey added that James was a lucky man, the Grammy winner replied, “I’m lucky, too.” So, yes, these two are clearly smitten with each other.
Unless, like me, you happen to have lived in Australia, you probably have absolutely no idea who this Packer guys is—you definitely haven’t seen his face on many major red carpets, that’s for sure. However, where I come from, the Packers are a household name, so keep reading to get the 411 on Mariah’s new fiancé.
He’s insanely rich
The one thing every Australian identifies James Packer with is wealth—he’s filthy rich, folks. Forbes estimated Packer’s net worth this year at a mind-boggling $3.5 billion.
Packer was Australia’s best-known media mogul
His money’s in casinos now
After nabbing that $1 billion payout from his family’s media empire, Packer turned his attention to the casino business with Crown Ltd., and has casino ventures across Australia, Macau, and Manila.
He’s divorced with three kids
Packer married model Erica Baxter (she now goes by Erica Packer) in 2007 after dating the Australian beauty for about four years. They have three children together—two daughters and a son—between the ages of seven and three. In September 2013, James and Erica announced they were divorcing, which was major news in Australia.
Miranda Kerr may have dated him
Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr was rumored to be dating Packer back in 2014, however neither ever confirmed the speculation.
He was involved in a bizarre public brawl
In a major WTF moment, Packer, 48, was involved in a very public fight with another fully grown professional man: David Gyngell, who also happens to be the CEO of major Australian TV network Channel Nine and a longtime friend of the Packer family. There are even photos from the 2014 brawl between the two middle-aged men, which I highly recommend checking out. Oh, and here’s the video–BYO popcorn.
