WEBVTT - Hunting down a hermit billionaire

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<v Speaker 1>From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.

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<v Speaker 1>It's Monday, March sixteen, twenty twenty six. Australia's biggest manufacturers

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<v Speaker 1>are warning of cost hikes and even rationing of industrial

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<v Speaker 1>goods like plastics because of the Iran War. There's talk

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<v Speaker 1>of petrol rationing and concern we might run out of gas.

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<v Speaker 1>Four of the Iranian soccer group are on their way home,

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<v Speaker 1>and there are allegations the remaining three Lionesses are under

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<v Speaker 1>pressure to also go back to Iran. We're following that

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<v Speaker 1>story and the war itself live right now at The

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<v Speaker 1>Australian dot com dot au. Cryptocurrency titan and occasional astronaut

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<v Speaker 1>Russell Wilson has an incredible story of bouncing back from

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<v Speaker 1>multimillion dollar fraud on his company Coinspot. But when we

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<v Speaker 1>try to track him down for the list Australia's Richest

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<v Speaker 1>two fifty, Wilson proved elusive, which made us even more intrigued.

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<v Speaker 1>That's today's story. Angelica Snowden is a business reporter with

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<v Speaker 1>The Australian and this year she's involved in one of

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<v Speaker 1>my favorite parts of the Australian it's called the List

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<v Speaker 1>Australia's Richest to fifty each year. It's a list of

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<v Speaker 1>obviously billionaires. And one of the things I love about

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<v Speaker 1>the list is that you John Stenzelt, the editor, and

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<v Speaker 1>some of our other reporters have to actually hunt these

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<v Speaker 1>billionaires down, but don't actually want us to tell the

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<v Speaker 1>world how rich they are all the time.

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<v Speaker 2>As it happens, apparently some of the time they don't,

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<v Speaker 2>which is actually pretty interesting. I think you might find

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<v Speaker 2>that many of the people who are involved in the

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<v Speaker 2>list are very happily interviewed, and you know, they get

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<v Speaker 2>pictured on yachts or you know, on their private jets. Perhaps,

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<v Speaker 2>But as it happens, the fellow that I was reporting

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<v Speaker 2>on this year did really not want to be involved

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<v Speaker 2>at all. His name is Russell Wilson. He is a

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<v Speaker 2>crypto billionaire. He's from Melbourne. He's pretty young, he's forty

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<v Speaker 2>four years old. I think many people would have heard

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<v Speaker 2>of his company, Coinspot, which is one of Australia's biggest

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<v Speaker 2>crypto exchanges. But Claire, I don't know if you're involved

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<v Speaker 2>in crypto.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm hoping that crypto will be like non fungible tokens

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<v Speaker 1>that if I ignore it for long enough, it will

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<v Speaker 1>just go away and no one will ever talk about

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<v Speaker 1>it again. So I've been waiting about a decade now

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<v Speaker 1>with crypto. I don't I don't know what these things

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<v Speaker 1>are going away.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't know. It seems to not be going away.

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<v Speaker 2>And if Russell Wilson's wealth is anything to go by,

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<v Speaker 2>I think it may have a very strong future. So,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, essentially, Russell Wilson launched his company in twenty

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<v Speaker 2>thirteen with you know, a couple of one hundred customers.

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<v Speaker 2>I imagine it very quickly grew to a few hundred

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<v Speaker 2>thousand a couple of years later, and today it is

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<v Speaker 2>Australia's biggest crypto exchange platforms by a lot of people.

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<v Speaker 2>It's very well known. As I said, the company is

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<v Speaker 2>well known, but the man behind it is really not.

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<v Speaker 2>He's virtually anonymous. He has gone to extreme lengths to

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<v Speaker 2>keep his identity private, completely private.

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<v Speaker 1>Is that because he's worried about his safety?

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<v Speaker 2>My colleague and I, Liam Mendez, spent a number of

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<v Speaker 2>months really trying to track him down and to work

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<v Speaker 2>out why he wanted to keep this level of privacy.

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<v Speaker 2>He says it's to protect his family. He ultimately did

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<v Speaker 2>supply us with a pretty short statement to a very

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<v Speaker 2>very long list of questions that we had. But I

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<v Speaker 2>think what you might find interesting, Claire, is that while

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<v Speaker 2>on the one hand, he really really strives to privacy,

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<v Speaker 2>on the other hand, we actually tracked down a video

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<v Speaker 2>of him in space on Jeff Bezos's spaceship In a

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<v Speaker 2>similar way. Did you hear about Katie Perry Drick?

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<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, I'm hoping that she kissed the Earth when

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<v Speaker 1>she came back. She's sang a really cringe withy song

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<v Speaker 1>while she was up there sing did he kiss it?

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<v Speaker 1>Did he wear a skin Sight blue jumpsuit?

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<v Speaker 2>Indeed he did, He absolutely did. On his jumpsuit it

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<v Speaker 2>does say R. Wilson, But in all of the press

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<v Speaker 2>clippings about that particular mission, he's referred to as an

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<v Speaker 2>anonymous six crew member. So it's a really really bizarre

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<v Speaker 2>kind of story here. You know, I'm a business reporter.

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<v Speaker 2>A lot of my stories come through courts and court reporting,

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<v Speaker 2>and initially I heard about this on another podcast. It

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<v Speaker 2>was really all about this fraud that affected coinspot. But

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<v Speaker 2>what was kind of the missing piece in that podcast

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<v Speaker 2>was who was the man behind this company, and as

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<v Speaker 2>it turns out, it's Russell Wilson, who is from suburban Melbourne,

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<v Speaker 2>and that's really where I my interest in this story

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<v Speaker 2>first kicked off.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it involved a scammer, an Englishman living in the

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<v Speaker 1>city of Blackpool, which is a seaside town in Lancashire,

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<v Speaker 1>famously bleak and wind swept, like most British seaside towns.

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<v Speaker 1>I must say, what was the scam, how did it happen?

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<v Speaker 2>James Parker, who was at the center of this fraud,

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<v Speaker 2>lived in a mold infested flat and he was poor,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, living in poverty essentially, but he discovered how

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<v Speaker 2>to exploit coinspot and mister Wilson's platform. What it involved

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<v Speaker 2>was taking bitcoin from the platform without actually buying it.

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<v Speaker 1>James Parker has now passed away, so he never actually

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<v Speaker 1>faced justice for what he allegedly did to Coinspot, but

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<v Speaker 1>that must have been devastating, not just for Russell Wilson,

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<v Speaker 1>but for the few hundred people at that stage who

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<v Speaker 1>had their money in Coinspot.

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<v Speaker 2>Absolutely again going back to my interest in this story,

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<v Speaker 2>after listening to the podcast, we sort of worked out, well,

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<v Speaker 2>where's Russell Wilson's voice in all of this. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>this is his company. He nearly lost the entire company

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<v Speaker 2>at this point, you know, a few years ago, and

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<v Speaker 2>now he's worth one point one billion dollars. About forty

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<v Speaker 2>million dollars was taken out of this platform, and as

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<v Speaker 2>I understand it, it was customers bitcoin. And in court

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<v Speaker 2>documents transcripts that I've obtained from the UK, we've got

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<v Speaker 2>Russell Wilson's account of him trying to negotiate with the

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<v Speaker 2>scammers in real time about how to get the money back,

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<v Speaker 2>and he described it as literally the worst week of

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<v Speaker 2>my life. That's a quote that came from these documents.

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<v Speaker 2>And what we discovered was that in a nightly reconciliation process, Wilson,

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<v Speaker 2>who is very involved in the company, discovered that the

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<v Speaker 2>reconciliation was out by millions of dollars and ultimately learned

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<v Speaker 2>that this glitch existed in the platform and that it

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<v Speaker 2>had been abused basically, and forty dollars had been taken.

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<v Speaker 2>So what he then embarked on was this intense back

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<v Speaker 2>and forth with James Parker, James Parker's financial advisor, who

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<v Speaker 2>has now been jailed over this scheme. And you know,

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<v Speaker 2>it's an incredible tale. He I think his first and

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<v Speaker 2>last conversation with James Parker was while James Parker was

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<v Speaker 2>being wheeled through an airport on a wheelchair from the

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<v Speaker 2>UK trying to go to Jubai, you know. So he

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<v Speaker 2>really thought at that point like, I'm going to lose

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<v Speaker 2>this company and I'm going to lose all of this money,

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<v Speaker 2>is what he told the court. Ultimately, the money has

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<v Speaker 2>been returned largely and UK authorities have through proceeds of Crime,

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<v Speaker 2>got all of the cash most of the cash back

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<v Speaker 2>is what I understand. But it's pretty incredible.

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<v Speaker 1>What do you think about bitcoin having absorbed this whole episode.

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<v Speaker 2>I guess it's you know, again, like you, I do

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<v Speaker 2>not dabble him in bitcoin or cryptocurrency by any stretch.

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<v Speaker 2>I think maybe Liam does, but I, you know, maybe

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<v Speaker 2>we should ask.

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<v Speaker 1>Him it's be getting paid too much.

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<v Speaker 2>I think that those concerns, you know, that's what the

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<v Speaker 2>concern was ten or five years ago, right, and I

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<v Speaker 2>think that's what the concern remains as far as I

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<v Speaker 2>can tell. I should say that in response to our questions,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, Wilson said they're really focusing on the security

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<v Speaker 2>of the platform and that they insist you know nothing

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<v Speaker 2>like this is going to happen to the platform again,

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<v Speaker 2>and that they work with regulators and authorities.

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<v Speaker 1>Now coming up, why did Russell Wilson's team threaten to

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<v Speaker 1>call the cops on the Australian. So tell me about

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<v Speaker 1>your and Liamb's adventures kind of tracking him down. What

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<v Speaker 1>did you do and how did you find him and

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<v Speaker 1>what did he say when you eventually did.

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<v Speaker 2>Russell lives in Berwick, which is about an hour drive

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<v Speaker 2>sort of southeast of Melbourne. When you're there, you feel

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<v Speaker 2>like you're in the country. It really doesn't feel like

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<v Speaker 2>you're close to any kind of city. He really didn't

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<v Speaker 2>want to talk to us. We tried the old fashioned

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<v Speaker 2>sort of approach of knocking on his door, except you

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<v Speaker 2>can't really get to his door because it's got like

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<v Speaker 2>huge gates. There's a security sort of guard always stationed

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<v Speaker 2>like outside of the house, but in the sort of

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<v Speaker 2>perum at us. So, I mean, look, we're doing our jobs, right,

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<v Speaker 2>We've obtained all of this information. It's really our job

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<v Speaker 2>to be able to put this to Russell and to

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<v Speaker 2>ask him what he wants to say and if you

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<v Speaker 2>can tell us anything else. But ultimately he wouldn't, and

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<v Speaker 2>we tried walking up to the gate a number of times.

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<v Speaker 2>We parked our car outside and were approached by security

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<v Speaker 2>guards a number of times, you know, Liam in particular,

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<v Speaker 2>told to leave, told that the police have been called.

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<v Speaker 1>We just want to put you on the rich list man.

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<v Speaker 2>It was pretty extreme. We did get some pictures of

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<v Speaker 2>Russell walking out of his Fried Chicken shop, which he

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<v Speaker 2>also owns in Mary.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the hilarious thing about it too. He looks

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<v Speaker 1>very sort of furtive, and it doesn't look good. It

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<v Speaker 1>would have been better to stand still, have a lovely

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<v Speaker 1>photo taken. We could have organized some hair and makeup

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<v Speaker 1>for him. You know, it made him look good, put

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<v Speaker 1>him on the cover.

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<v Speaker 2>Hopefully he will talk to us one day in the future.

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<v Speaker 2>So I don't know if he's listening, but I really

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<v Speaker 2>still want to talk to you if you are.

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<v Speaker 1>I always find it intriguing that Johnston results time is

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<v Speaker 1>spent persuading some of the billionaires to talk to him,

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<v Speaker 1>and then dealing with the others who are very keen

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<v Speaker 1>to talk. He's had some hilarious covers of that magazine

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<v Speaker 1>where people are posing up in dressing gowns that he

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<v Speaker 1>had a bunch of billionaires in a pool recently. What

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<v Speaker 1>does it tell us about wealth and about Australian's desire

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<v Speaker 1>to be seen to be rich.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, we live in a social media world. We

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<v Speaker 2>live online, our lives are played out online normally. In

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<v Speaker 2>this case it's the opposite. Coinspot really doesn't have much

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<v Speaker 2>of a presence online. Russell definitely does not. Their entire

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<v Speaker 2>sort of company and the people behind it are just anonymous.

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<v Speaker 2>And I think it's very unusual to find somebody who

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<v Speaker 2>has this much influence and power and money who doesn't

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<v Speaker 2>want to be seen to be using it perhaps or

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<v Speaker 2>to be partially known for it.

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<v Speaker 1>Angelicus noden Is Business reported with The Australian. Thanks a

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<v Speaker 1>thank you, Claire. You can read Ange's story right now

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<v Speaker 1>at The Australian dot com dot au and the list

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<v Speaker 1>Australia's Riches two fifty will be published on Friday