"I've been to the other side son, and there's f#$king nothing there."

- Kerry Packer, on his heart attack in 1990, during which he was clinically dead.

Kerry Packer, who died on Monday night, was one of the most remarkable characters of modern-day Australia. His career, his lifestyle, his personality made for a capitalist's wet dream. But he wasn't so much a captain of industry as he was the overlord of a feudal empire.