Billionaires, pop stars, Supreme Court: Waislitz, Pratt in settlement talks

3 months ago 9

A bitter legal showdown between billionaire heiress Heloise Pratt and her former husband Alex Waislitz is in talks to be settled, a move that would avoid a messy fight that threatened to reshape control of one of the nation’s most prominent business dynasties, the $1.3 billion Thorney Investment Group, and air the dirty laundry of one of Melbourne’s wealthiest families.

Pratt, the eldest daughter of the late packaging magnate Richard Pratt, sued investment mogul Waislitz over claims he misused the family wealth and breached the agreement that underpins Thorney’s ownership. Pratt was understood to be seeking about $750 million and the appointment of an independent trustee to replace Jamahjo, the private entity through which the pair control Thorney.

Alex Waislitz and his ex-wife Heloise Pratt

Now, after months of public mudslinging, a week-long trial that was scheduled to kick off in Victoria’s Supreme Court has been adjourned for two consecutive days and settlement discussions are ongoing, according to a source close to the parties not authorised to speak publicly.

The stoush first dates to 1991, when Waislitz was gifted $1.2 million worth of Amcor shares by his late father-in-law, a story commonly retold in Melbourne business circles. Those assets ballooned into a $300 million investment portfolio by the end of that decade, and Thorney is now one of the nation’s highest-profile private investment groups, worth more than $1 billion.

Waislitz and Pratt have three children together and married in 1994, before separating in 2014. At first, the divorce was amicable, but relations soured, eventually landing at the Supreme Court. At the heart of the dispute was Project Rose, a code name for a 2005 deal struck when the couple were married, giving Pratt and Waislitz equal stakes in Thorney via a trust. The pact also led to the establishment of the Halex family trust, which Pratt argued was established “with the primary intention of providing equally” for their three children, Jake, Milly and Joseph.

Anthony Pratt and sister Heloise Pratt at the 2023 Met Gala in New York.

Pratt alleged Waislitz had taken control of the business at her expense and to the detriment of their children. In her view, Waislitz was simply employed as an executive of Thorney, whose ultimate owner was the Pratt family. Waislitz, however, says he was solely responsible for Thorney’s establishment and growth, and that he chose the name Thorney with the idea it would be a “thorn in the side” of complacent company managers.

In court filings, Pratt alleged Waislitz misappropriated more than $21 million for personal use, including the purchase of a $20 million penthouse in developer Tim Gurner’s Saint Moritz complex, two Toorak homes linked to his fiancee, fledgling pop star Rebekah Behbahani, and her sister Venus. Pratt also alleged her ex-husband transferred millions from their family trust to fund Behbahani’s pop music career, including $14 million to a music promoter. Pratt said the moves flouted the governance arrangements of their trust, and wanted an independent trustee installed to restore balance.

When Pratt filed her case against Waislitz in November, she claimed her former husband “acted dishonestly for his own benefit and engaged in criminality”, though the reference to criminality was later dropped.

“[Waislitz] from time to time deposited substantial sums of money with subsidiaries of Jamahjo. Those deposits were undocumented, interest free and for no apparent business purpose. They were not transactions that an ordinary prudent man of business would enter into on his own account,” she alleged.

Waislitz strongly denied any wrongdoing. He argued Pratt relinquished her role in the business years ago, leaving him to run Thorney, and he vowed to defend himself vigorously.

Pictured is (l to r) Anthony Pratt, Jeanne Pratt, Heloise Waislitz, Eddie McGuire and Alex Waislitz.

“[Waislitz] and Heloise Pratt had an arrangement or understanding whereby Heloise Pratt left to him the management of their family’s commercial and business affairs, including with respect to the distribution of income of the Halex family trust,” Waislitz said in his defence.

“We don’t think we’ve got anything to hide, we’d rather get this behind us, bring it on, clarify it and the court will decide,” he told The Australian Financial Review in March.

“We will fight the fight as needed, we think it’s an unnecessary action that’s part of a broader [legal] tactic, but we’re not shying away from it.”

Waislitz declined to comment. Heloise Pratt was approached to comment.

The case has also drawn in colourful side-plots: Venus Behbahani has been ordered to hand over drafts of her unpublished memoir, Gaslit, after claiming rights to one of the Toorak properties.

“Gaslit by Venus is a gripping autobiography that begins in Iran, journeys through Italy, and unfolds in Australia,” the book’s website reads.

“It reveals the devastating effects of gaslighting and betrayal, exposing manipulation by those closest to her.”

Pratt and her siblings, Anthony Pratt and Fiona Geminder, are also defending a lawsuit from their half-sister Paula Hitchcock — the daughter of Richard Pratt and long-time mistress Shari-lea Hitchcock — who claims entitlement to a share of the $10 billion Pratt family trust.

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