Matthew Perrin, formerly head of Billabong is in trouble! But for what?
Billabong’s ex-CEO Matthew Perrin’s life has just become a tabloid disaster. Messy divorce, charges of fraud, stealing homes, bankrupting families, affairs, pregnancy, etc. but I didn’t know any of that when I stumbled on a headline that approximated the one you see here. “Ex-Billabong CEO” and “I’ve done a lot of bad things” near each other.
And my mind raced. What could he possibly be talking about?
Maybe once producing boardshorts that cascaded far below the knee and looked like baggy skirts?
Maybe going on a spending spree, buying up UK surf shops at the dawn of Internet retail?
Maybe losing Graham Stapelberg, the greatest ever employee and pal anyone could hope for, to the World Surf League?
Maybe producing a sandal wherein the bottom could be used to pop a beer bottle?
But then I remembered they didn’t do that last one so read the story instead. Would you like to as well?
Let us turn to news.com.au!
The then-wife of Billabong boss Matthew Perrin thought he was going to admit he had been unfaithful again when he confessed, “I’ve done a lot of bad things”.
But he replied “no, it’s much worse than that” and told her “I’ve lost everything”, including their $15 million, waterfront home.
Nicole Bricknell dramatically broke down in the witness box as she described how the multi-millionaire couple went belly-up after Perrin allegedly used the Surfers Paradise house as security for $13.5 million credit from the Commonwealth Bank.
Perrin and wife Nicole Bricknell allegedly made $33 million from their investment in the popular surfwear company in the late 1990s.
They enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle for a number of years that included overseas holidays, $10,000-a-month living expenses and the gift of a $75,000 car to her husband, she told the Brisbane District Court.
It all fell apart after Perrin allegedly used their luxury Surfers Paradise home as bank security.
The former CEO is now on trial for fraud and forgery after allegedly faking his wife’s signature on the paperwork in 2008.
The couple had designed and built their property together as a “forever home” for them and their three children, Ms Bricknell said.
The trial had to be temporarily halted on Tuesday when she broke down in tears and began hyperventilating.
Etc. Etc. Etc. But wait. The gift of a $75,000 car? Do you know what a $75,000 car looks like in Australia?
Bad things indeed! Though Graham Stapelberg sure would look good in The Penetrator cruising the WSL’s Santa Monica neighborhood.
Don’t you think?
That Tinder profile pic of Graham Stapelberg clears up a lot regarding the Eddie Rothman kicking-his-ass incident ..,who wouldn’t?
what happened?
this is the kind of story that renews my faith in soul mates and “forever love” in your “forever home” with all your “forever money”
His business woes won’t end here. He will find out the hard way that free Billabong stickers and t-shirts don’t translate well in the intricacies of a penitentiary economy.
… so he (admittedly) forges his ex-wife’s and (allegedly) brother-in-law’s signatures, and claims he WASN’T knowingly attempting to deceive nor defraud… ?
we do reside in a ‘post-truth’ world indeed.
“claims” though
part of Perrins problems was the Penetrator, penetrating the wrong woman , he was more worried about the $’s ,than being busted for betraying his wife and family , ah those rich whites!!
ha ha the $13 mill was paper money – a guarantee against money that was already gone. Lots of it and much more went to an array of investments in China – property development and manufacturing. He was not the only cashed up ex Billabong millionaire to lose his shirt in that arena. There is some sort of grim story here about easy money and how it can convince you that you’re a business genius. I dunno; why do people crash and burn?
its a lot easier than believing you’re just a lucky dude, especially when you’ve got an ego and hundreds of yes men feeding it
the low income single dad car.
surely the bob marley X bong collection was worse than the metallica shorts
Fuck they are some dope wheels.
Way to many bongs for the Bong exec!!!
Are these guys all that fucking stupid and arrogant – or was it that the true worth was 33c and they borrowed and overcapitalised because they THOUGHT they had 33 million????
pick up a good commodore off the side of the road from a euro backpacker for a couple grand.