21 Facts About Nathan Tinkler

Nathan Tinkler was born on 1 February 1976 and is an Australian mining industry executive and was previously the principal shareholder of Aston Resources and Whitehaven Coal.

Nathan Tinkler started out as a mining apprentice in the Hunter Valley, in New South Wales and set up his own business at age 26.

In 2006, Nathan Tinkler paid a $1 million deposit to buy the Middlemount coal mine in Central Queensland.

Nathan Tinkler was named by BRW magazine in September 2008 as Australia's richest person aged 40 or less with a stated net worth of $441 million at age 32.

In 2008, Nathan Tinkler purchased the Maules Creek Mine coal deposit in New South Wales for $480 million from Rio Tinto and floated the vehicle for the deposit, Aston Resources Limited, in 2010 with a valuation of $1.2 billion.

In early 2012, Nathan Tinkler was named by BRW magazine as Australia's youngest billionaire with a stated net worth of more than $1.18 billion.

In May 2012, Nathan Tinkler merged Aston Resources Limited and another coal mining company controlled by him, Boardwalk Resources, with Whitehaven Coal creating a leading independent coal mining company with market capitalisation in excess of $5 billion.

In 2014, Nathan Tinkler was called to give evidence before the Independent Commission Against Corruption over allegations of illegal donations to New South Wales politicians.

Nathan Tinkler denied any wrongdoing and no corruption finding was made against him.

In February 2016, Nathan Tinkler was declared bankrupt by the Federal Court with his bankruptcy subsequently annulled in August 2018.

In December 2018, entities associated with Nathan Tinkler commenced proceedings in the New South Wales Supreme Court against Whitehaven Coal seeking compensation in relation to the 2012 acquisition of Boardwalk Resources Limited.

In 2008, Nathan Tinkler established a racehorse enterprise, Patinack Farm, which became one of Australia's largest locally owned racing organisations, experiencing tremendous success in a short period of time.

On 31 March 2011 Nathan Tinkler assumed ownership of the Newcastle Knights rugby league club by a landslide vote of the eligible club members.

Thompson said that Nathan Tinkler's racing and breeding company, Patinack Farm, had been asked to leave its Hawkesbury private training facility because "the owner of the property just got sick of us being late with our rent".

However a spokesman for Nathan Tinkler said Patinack Farm had never run out of feed.

The action came two weeks after two of Nathan Tinkler's companies were placed into liquidation.

On 2 April 2013 it was revealed that Nathan Tinkler had put his entire racing and breeding business up for sale, including stock and properties.

On 19 June 2013, it was announced that Nathan Tinkler's biggest remaining asset, a 19 per cent share in coal miner Whitehaven, had been bought by his main financial backers, including Farallon Management.

The liquidator had taken action in the South Australian Supreme Court over unpaid debts, and asked the court to issue a warrant for Nathan Tinkler's arrest, saying he had shown a "flagrant disregard" for the court.

On 2 March 2016, Nathan Tinkler failed to lodge an appeal in the required time and so was officially declared bankrupt.

Nathan Tinkler told his bankruptcy trustee that he only had one asset, a farm near the NSW north coast town of Port Macquarie, which has caveats held on it by retailer Gerry Harvey and the local council.