Crikey’s best sealed sections are now available for new subscribers to see on www.shareowner.com.au but subscribe now before the price rise on November 1.

Get your finances sorted out son

Crikey’s fiancee Paula and his dad – the tee-shirt distributor and financial manager – are starting to lecture him about focusing more on the revenue side of the business. Every time someone signs up for a $30 subscription, we get to pocket only half, once you take out the cost of sending out the crikey tee-shirt, credit cards charges and the GST.

Whilst Crikey is a very cheap business to run from home, we are still running down our assets getting it started. Yes we’ve created a reasonably well-known brand without spending one dollar on advertising, but all up we’ve probably invested almost $100,000 and have only made a fraction of that back in subscriptions. We’ve also copped out first writ but quite genuinely have very little to our name, be it personally or in the company structure of Crikey Media Pty Ltd.

Help us pay the legal and wedding bills and go to more AGMs

However, we will have to pay legal and wedding bills and to this end would encourage you to subscribe to keep us going. The price rise is timed to coincide with the upcoming AGM season which runs throughout October and November. If we got a flurry of new subscriptions, we’ll be able to buy more shares, attend more meeting and provide a better service overall.

We have nominated for eight boards so far in what will be Australia’s first taste of true corporate democracy. John Howard wants to create popular capitalism so this means some of his big business mates and party donors will face contested board elections for a change. Subscribers are being told first via email about the exchanges we’re having with chairmen and the tactics ahead of various meetings.

We’d love you to be inside the war-room for this process as we plan what to ask the Murdochs, Packers and Lowys of this world. This is a privilege that will only go to subscribers who want to read about it on our sister site www.shareowner.com.au or receive early warning emails so sign up now before it goes up from the ridiculous 8.2c a day to the incredibly cheap 15c a day. Some suckers such as Crikey are paying $2.20 a day for the Fin Review and often wonder why when The Wall Street Journal only costs US75c.

Subscribe to see the salacious and insightful sealed sections

Crikey will always remain free but the sealed sections are sent to our “sole subscriber” by email, partly because they might arouse the interest of lawyers and partly because they are something of real interest and value that we keep for our subscribers. And if you do subscribe before October 15 we’ll send you some back copies of our sealed sections which are very lively indeed. The subject matters covered include the following and some of these are available for subscribers to read on www.shareowner.com.au.

  • How we helped force Steve Vizard’s resignation from Telstra
  • Kerry Stokes and his mysterious love life
  • How the Commonwealth Bank stuffed up its board elections
  • Steve Vizard’s growing bank balance, enemy list and conflicts of interest
  • Kerry Packer shooting at a chopper carrying Paul Keating
  • Bob Hawke’s $80,000 in free suits
  • Shane Warne’s off-field antics
  • The tabloid editor having an affair with his secretary
  • The chairman who passed off his children by his lover as his own grandchildren
  • Felicity Kennett’s song for an injured dog
  • What Col Allan does in his sink
  • The complete Rash Long debacle over Media Flash
  • The restaurant fight between Piers Akerman and John Singleton
  • Kerry Packer and Heidi Fleiss
  • The real story of Looksmart found Evan Thornley
  • Paul Keating’s millions from Colonial
  • Why Rupert Murdoch hates Ron Walker
  • Rupert Hamer’s complaints about the Kennetts
  • 3AW’s connection to a $100 million taxpayer loss
  • The corporate battle behind the Stan and Tracey debacle

If you’re a lawyer, please remember that these sealed sections were only sent to one subscriber each. If you’re not a lawyer, why not sign up and become our second subscriber. And if you don’t want us to know who you are, just set up an email account under a false name and send the details of this along with cash or a bank cheque to PO Box 2095, Templestowe Heights 3107. We’ll do the rest. Incidentally, that’s the address to use if you want to appoint me your proxy for any upcoming meetings. Alternatively, if you like what we’re doing feel free to walk into your local Commonwealth Bank and make a hefty donation. The cheque account number for Crikey Media is 063494 10151030.

All the best

Stephen Mayne

Publisher

Crikey Media Pty Ltd