Who is Anthony Pratt, the billionaire accused of receiving nuclear secrets from Donald Trump?

Pratt Australia The third richest People say they allegedly learned state secrets about U.S. nuclear submarines from the former president abc news It was first reported earlier this month, citing unnamed sources. Trump refuted the accusations, posting on the Truth Society over the weekend that he and “The red-haired weirdo from Australia“The focus is “creating jobs in Ohio and Pennsylvania.”

According to ABC News, Platt, the billionaire owner of a cardboard company, learned the confidential information while speaking with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s country club in West Palm Beach, Florida.During the conversation, the former president allegedly told Platt that he revealed two key pieces of information about U.S. nuclear submarines: how many nuclear warheads there are on each submarine, and how close they can get to Russian subs without being detected abc news. Platt then shared the information with about 45 other people, according to ABC.

To date, Platt has not been accused of wrongdoing, and it’s unclear whether Platt believed Trump’s alleged comments or whether they were accurate. Nonetheless, media reports indicate that Platt was interviewed twice by special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating the classified documents case against the former president.

Platt inherited a highly successful cardboard box company from his father

Like Trump, Platt has a wealthy father who built much of the family business. His father, Robert Pratt, is an Australian businessman who founded the cardboard and recycling company Visy.An article in Australian Financial Review Compare the rise of the Pratt family to Murdoch’s and packing workerAustralia’s globally renowned billionaire family has faced its own controversies.

Platt, who has a net worth of $9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is the owner of Platt Industries, a box company and one of the first to make cardboard from recycled materials. He is also executive chairman of Visy, the Australian arm of the family cardboard box business founded by his father, Robert. When the younger Platt was in his thirties, his father assigned him to oversee a paper mill in Macon, Georgia, and although the family eventually sold that mill, from that time on, Platt was associated with the U.S. The connection has always been strong. Today, he leads Atlanta-based Pratt Industries. He is married to American Claudine Revere, whose company is the caterer for Trump’s Central Park ice rink. according to arrive Australian Financial Review.

Pratt Industries has annual revenue of $6 billion and about 10,000 U.S. employees, according to the company’s website. (Visi did not immediately respond to a request for comment wealth. Multiple calls to Pratt Industries were directed to a non-functioning voicemail. )

Inherit wealth and use it to cultivate relationships

After Trump was elected president in 2016, Platt successfully entered the social, business and political circles of the former president. according to arrive New York Times.

Pratt spent at least US$200,000 on a membership to Mar-a-Lago, spent US$1 million to attend an event attended by Trump that cost US$50,000 per person, and even took out a full-page ad in the New York Times. wall street journal Praising Trump’s policies to create manufacturing jobs in the Midwest, according to arrive Australian Financial Review.

Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Like the former president, Platt, who splits his time between a penthouse in New York and a house in Atlanta, has been a staunch supporter of American manufacturing. “We want to be the last ones standing here,” he Tell this Australian Financial Review 2015. “A lot of companies have exited the U.S. market, but we haven’t.” In 2019, when Pratt Industries opened a new factory in Ohio, then-President Trump and the Australian Prime Minister visited the plant.

“We’re here to celebrate a great opening and a great gentleman,” Trump said at the event, adding, “Anthony is one of the most successful men in the world, maybe the most successful man in Australia. “

For a while, the relationship seemed to be paying off.Trump-era tax cuts in 2017 reportedly helped Pratt’s personal net worth increases According to statistics, an increase of approximately 2.7 billion Australian dollars and approximately 1.9 billion US dollars Sydney Morning Herald.

According to multiple media reports, Platt’s relationship with Trump is not the only one that has brought him success.Platt once struck a deal with Home Depot CEO Bernie Marcus while the two were on a private tour of the Georgia Aquarium, which they had visited All donatedaccording to the 2015 Australian Financial Review contour. And, before Trump turned on him, Platt often brought his billionaire friends to Mar-a-Lago, including mining billionaire and Australia’s richest man Gina Rinehart, as well as people like Marcus of senior executive clients.

When an Australian reporter asked Platt where he expected the future of the business to come from, he replied: “It’s all about relationships.”