Rene Walter Rivkin

Rene Walter Rivkin (6 June 1944 – 1 May 2005) was a Chinese-born Australian entrepreneur, investor, investment adviser, and stockbroker. He was convicted of insider trading in 2003 and sentenced to nine months of periodic detention.

Early life

Rene Walter Rivkin was born 6 June 1944 in Shanghai, China, in what was then Japanese-occupied China, to Russian-Jewish parents. His father, Walter, was a Georgian-born trader who had fled to China in the 1920s to escape the Bolsheviks. The elder Rivkin had also once been a champion boxer in Shanghai. The family emigrated to Australia in 1951. Rivkin attended the selective Sydney Boys High School in Moore Park. In accordance with his father's wishes, he studied law at the University of Sydney. He went on to become the youngest member ever of the Sydney Stock Exchange.

Career

Rivkin was a well-known stockbroker and entrepreneur, whose career spanned over 30 years. In December 1985, he was voted Business Review Weekly magazine's Stockbroker of the Year. Later, he gained recognition with his publication of the Rivkin Report, in which he would advise what stocks to buy and sell, and provide market analysis. He became famous in the Australian media for his entrepreneurial flair and wealth. He was associated with leading political, media and business figures in Australia from 1982 to 1999 and became a household name.

Rivkin sold his share of stockbroking firm Rivkin James Capel after an operation to remove a tumour and the 1987 stockmarket collapse. He was the chairman and chief investor in the printing plant that was destroyed in the Offset Alpine fire on 24 December 1993. This resulted in an insurance payout of $53 million. Rivkin owned and part-owned many businesses, including a half share of John Singleton Advertising between 1986 and 1991 with his friend John Singleton. He subsequently founded another stockbroking firm.

Death

Banned for life from having a stockbroking licence following the serving of his sentence, Rivkin retired from business life. During this time, he suffered from several conditions. Since 1986, Rivkin received treatment for benign brain tumours, a gangrenous gall bladder, deep vein thrombosis and bipolar disorder. During interviews Rivkin mentioned that he had contemplated suicide. In early September 2004 he attempted suicide. He later moved from his Point Piper home to the Darling Point home of his elderly mother, where he took his own life on 1 May 2005. His funeral was widely attended by many notable people from Sydney's business community at Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park where his body was cremated on 6 May 2005. He was survived by his wife and five children.