Bankrupt but Drake’s Soul living
STANDING at the foot of Soul, gazing up as wispy clouds drift over the shining 77-floor tower, it can seem as if the whole thing is toppling slowly towards you.
The whole world might have felt that way for Peter Drake in the past two years.
The bankrupt businessman, 59, owes $400 million to investors but he has so far survived.
More than that, according to bankruptcy documents, he’s living in this striking beachfront building, billed as the “world’s most iconic address”.
When he lodged his bankruptcy form with ASIC in January, Mr Drake’s assets included a block of land worth $500, which is conservation zoned and goes underwater when it floods, two second-hand cars and just over $1000 in the bank.
That’s only enough for one week’s rent at Soul.
The difference between October 2012 and March 2013 could not have been more stark for the LM Investment Management founder and chief executive.
The headlines said it all: “Australian success story attracts global investors”.
There was a $3 billion empire, international expansion, a growing portfolio of investments and a $1 billion development proposal – Madison Estate – to be designed with help from stripper/landscaper Jamie Durie and featuring a Kelly Slater wave pool.
It was the “success story” with a “dream team”.
Within six months, it was “Investment firm in administration”.
The life Peter Drake had built on the Gold Coast in the good years has since been picked over by administrators and sightseers alike.
When his breathtaking Albatross Ave home was opened to buyers in October 2013, the six-bedroom, eightbathroom house was still decked out with family belongings.
“It was like boarding the Mary Celeste, without the half-eaten meals left on the plates,’’ one gleeful inspector told the Bulletin then.
Mortgagees sold it for $7.35 million just months after Mr Drake had floated it at $20 million.
He listed his occupation as “consultant to an insurance company business”.
The former finance execu- tive, who started out selling insurance, now works for insurance company Australian Global Insurance Services, based in Surfers Paradise.
LM Investment Management and its subsidiaries finished up with debts to more than 4500 unit holders across the world when it folded in March 2013, including a $22.5 million loan from the LM Managed Performance Fund.
His former Broadbeach restaurant Lauxes – “sexual” spelled backwards – is owed $60,000 while Somerset College is owed $37,000 in school fees for his children.
Earlier this year, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said they were not pursuing criminal charges against Mr Drake, although they are doing their best to make sure he is not able to direct other companies.
His civil court case continues in Brisbane on April 15.
The has attempted to contact Mr Drake.