Originally Posted by 380
I'm sorry to hear that mate..
This is up there with the greatest thing you have posted on the foz, Gary..
https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers...0170202-gu4fg3
Alibaba billionaire founder Jack Ma gives $26m to University of Newcastle in memory of Australian mentor
Herald's story:
Dave and Steve Morley were members of the Rowdies (not sure if they ever took young Jack to a match), and their dad Ken was a true local character, avid collector of eclectic stuff like handtools etc, I'm sure they would have shared their passion for football with Jack in the day. I'm still a bit reticent about having another Chinese owner though, President Xi has targeted Ma to make an example of him/'punish' him in recent years (ironic as he's a member of the Party and good citizen etc, but too wealthy and powerful for Xi's liking it seems), if Ma had issues funding us in the same way Martin Lee did we might not be as well off under his tutelage as we'd hope (could be wrong on that score though, but just a concern in my view at least).Billionaire to give $26m to Newcastle uni
By Scott Bevan
Updated February 3 2017 - 8:32pm, first published 5:00pm
A close friendship between a Chinese billionaire and a Newcastle family has led to the largest ever donation to the University of Newcastle.
Jack Ma, the founder of the internet company Alibaba, will give US$20 million, or more than Australian $26 million, to fund a scholarship program.
Mr Ma has travelled to Newcastle to announce the scholarship program in a ceremony late Friday afternoon.
“That he views this as so significant, so important to him, that he would personally come to be here is a really strong symbol,” the University of Newcastle’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Caroline McMillen, said.
The donation by the man estimated by Forbes to be worth US$28.4 billion, or more than Australian $37 billion, is to honour his friendship with Newcastle’s Morley family, who he met as a teenager in his home city of Hangzhou in 1980. He approached a boy about his age, David Morley, to practise his English, and from there a bond with the family grew.
The Morleys brought Jack Ma to Australia in 1985 for his first visit. Mr Ma has credited the father, Ken Morley, with being an influential figure in his life, and he has returned to Newcastle to see the family several times, including a visit to an ailing Mr Morley prior to his death in 2004.
“I am very thankful for Australia and the time I spent there in my youth,” Mr Ma said in a statement before the ceremony. “The culture, the landscape and most importantly its people had a profound positive impact on my view of the world at that time.”
“To honour the experience and the special relationship I formed with the Morley family, the Jack Ma Foundation is delighted to announce The Ma & Morley Scholarship Program that will inspire, educate and cultivate tomorrow’s leaders.”
Professor McMillen said the university had been working with the Jack Ma Foundation for about a year to shape a program “that really represents the quality of that friendship, that really unique friendship, between Jack Ma and Ken Morley”.
When The Ma and Morley Scholarship Program reached full capacity, it would support 90 students a year. The program would be advertised from the middle of this year, and Professor McMillen said the recipients would include students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds and indigenous scholars.
“At the heart of this philanthropic commitment is the most remarkable story of friendship,” Professor McMillen said.
David Morley said his father “would be moved to tears” by Jack Ma’s donation, and the reasons behind it.
Life isn't the same without Con... but it can only improve without Tinks...
Should we start to worry?
been worried since kb united
I dont want Jack taking over the Jets (hes not going to i was joking).
I DO want him to take over Cooks Hill and have them fill the gap once the Jets inevitably go under.
A $80m squad running out taking on Edgy and Jaffas would tbe awesome for the local game.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand.... still no word on new ownership?
Its all gone quiet AGAIN!
There's more to this than us just being sold to a new owner.
They are in no hurry to complete the deal !
It was a strategic move from the clubs that are currently keeping us afloat, when they decided to start paying our bills!
It should have never been allowed to happen.
We were told it was securing our short term future as a club but its actually affecting our long term future now !
i'm guessing we weren't really in a position at the time to be dictating too many terms
Valentine FC was more attractive........
From the Mattiske email today:
Importantly, after two years of building stability and growth under our current ownership model, the Club is now in a phase where we look to a transition to new owners. We have had approaches from a number of parties, and we know there is interest in the Club. We now move into a period where we will be running a formal process to transition ownership. The target is to have this complete before the commencement of the next season, however it may be that further time is needed ? and ultimately, we must find an owner that will be right for this Club and this community. In all this, your support and the support of the broader football and business community is critical. The stronger the Club is, the more we can be confident that we will attract the right owner for this Club?s future.
Promising news Shane
Just more hot air n bullshit
Remember when we were getting Terry Venables and Kanta was going to Bayern Munich
Just thought I would share what I managed to find out regarding the club being sold.
I did have some knowledge that we were "close" to being sold which was on track to be completed in January/February this year.
The amount for was between $10m to $15m with the buyer willing to do the deal if the amount was closer to $10m rather than $15m.
The selling party were well aware of this and the talks were positive and progressive.
When the talks were at an advanced stage there was talk of some other interested parties/buyers and the selling price suddenly increased.
The buyer that I have knowledge of was not happy and couldn't see any justification for the price increase so the talks came to a sudden stop.
We have seen in the media recently that the jets are for sale for $15m to $25m.
Surely an amount of this size is unrealistic and driven by greed from the owners !
It's hard to see any buyers interested at those reported amounts !
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, in hindsight
Thanks for sharing, Ramjet
The Championship Chronicles - The Jetstream's review of the 2007/08 season. www.newcastlefootball.net/chronicles
That's the issue we aren't even worth 10mil but the APL wants 25mil because our three a league owners want to make some money back on their "investment" Speaking of said A-League owners ive seen rumours that they are all looking to stop funding us or look at scaling it back. Not long left fellas until we no longer exist
Pointing to a wider-spread malaise, the fortunes of fellow NSW outfit Newcastle Jets continue to flounder with their main benefactors - Sydney FC, Western Sydney Wanderers and Western United - looking at ways to curtail their investment after two years of propping up the club.
I'm pretty sure the other clubs that have been keeping us financial thought that the whole "unbundling of the aleague" would bring in new investment and bigger $$$ with it.
They thought they would make easy money by keeping us afloat and then cash in when a buyer came forward.
This has clearly backfired with the Newcastle Jets future soon at risk !
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