But any gains made through Wirecard’s self-combustion didn’t offset what Hempton lost shorting the company when the rest of the world looked the other way and helped pump up its share price.
“Wirecard is our bête noire stock . . . a loser on which we were eventually right,” he told investors.
Will commercial twist Tony’s strong arm?
Success always has a downside, as the ABC is discovering after rising star Tony Armstrong’s Logies win.
The News Breakfast sports presenter is the talk of many towns after his triumph in the most popular newcomer category on the Gold Coast on Sunday night, and some of the talk turned to potential poaching attempts by Aunty’s commercial rivals, with online speculation that offers had already been made.
In demand: Tony Armstrong.Credit:Matt Golding
CBD has been told by ABC sources not authorised to speak publicly that News Breakfast bosses are concerned about hanging onto Armstrong but believe they could convince the former footy player a commercial outfit would cramp the easy-going style that has made him such a hit with audiences.
The man himself told us on Tuesday there was no move on the cards.
“That was actually news to me, when I read about it,” Armstrong said.
“I’ve got a good relationship with Channel 10, I go on The Project a bit and I’ve got a good relationship with Fox Footy as well. But there’s been no ‘come over here full-time’ or anything like that.”
Judith Neilson spends big
All is not well among the generous media benefactors at the Judith Neilson Institute, with reports in this masthead of four directors resigning, and widespread anger at the top.
But JNI is a cushy gig for those willing to navigate the turbulence. Filings with the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission show in the 2021 reporting period, its biggest expense was on employees – at $2.6 million it outweighs the $2.1 million spent on those generous grants and donations to journalists.
JNI has just 12 full-time equivalent staff, meaning employees are paid on average nearly $220,000 a year. Imagine wanting to leave?
Curtis fails upward
This week marks five years since investment banker Oliver Curtis was spirited away from Cooma Correctional Centre in a private jet after serving 12 months for insider trading.
That means Curtis’ five-year automatic disqualification from managing a company expires today, giving him the all-clear to return to the top of the business world.
Despite the ban, Curtis has been keeping busy since his prison stint, with a little help from family. A joint communications venture with his wife, PR maven Roxy Jacenko, may have wound up, but Curtis still has his dad, financier and mining honcho Nick Curtis to fall back on.
Of course, the duo have turned to crypto.
Within months of his release from jail in 2017, the Riverview old boy took a management position at E-nome, a blockchain-based personal health record system founded by Curtis senior through funds raised via bitcoin. CBD hears ASIC considered whether Curtis breached the disqualification order, but decided not to pursue it.
Late last year, Curtis emerged as chief operating officer of Tasmanian-based bitcoin miner Firmus Grid, chaired by his dad. At the time, Firmus had its sights on an ASX float this year. No sign of that halfway through 2022, and with crypto prices plummeting, we wonder if it’ll get many takers.
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Source: SMH
