Former Hunter billionaire Nathan Tinkler is poised to make a corporate comeback as the chairman of the ASX-listed coal developer White Energy.
The Queensland-based company announced on Friday that Tinkler would become its next executive chairman after acquiring Tinkler's private company Oceltip Coal 2 Pty Ltd.
Tinkler, 50, began his career as a mining apprentice at Muswellbrook before establishing his own business at age 26.
Oceltip is the backward spelling for "Pitleco", a slang name for a mine pit electrician.
BRW magazine named Tinkler as Australia's youngest billionaire with a net worth of more than $1.18 billion in early 2012.
At the height of his powers he acquired the ownership of the Newcastle Jets in 2010 and the Newcastle Knights in 2011.
However, by 2016 his empire had collapsed, culminating in him being declared bankrupt with debts of more than $540 million.
Tinkler's Newcastle headquarters, which included the top floor of the Boardwalk Building at One Honeysuckle Drive, were offloaded via expressions of interest.
His properties in Ocean Street, Merewether, sold for $6.2 million in March 2014.
Tinkler's personal bankruptcy was annulled in 2018 and a ban on him serving as a director of Australian companies expired in early 2021.
He sold his 15-bedroom Sapphire Beach beachfront compound in April 2024. His current address is not known.
White Energy owns a demonstration and pilot plant in Cessnock for processing low-grade and waste coal but is otherwise not presently active in the Hunter.
Its acquisition of Tinkler's Oceltip Coal 2 for $4 million will give it control of undeveloped coal assets near the Queensland town of Wandoan.
Tinkler would be joined on the board by resources industry investor John Canavan, the brother of National Party leader Matt Canavan.
It is not the first time that Tinkler's presence has helped lift a relatively small resources company's profile.
Australian Pacific Coal found itself in the spotlight when Tinkler joined the company in 2015. He helped drive a strategy to buy coal assets at what were then very low coal prices.
Among the projects that were resurrected was the controversial Dartbrook coal mine near Muswellbrook.
However, the project a joint venture by Australian Pacific Coal and Tetra Resources, went into external administration and receivership in July last year, after it failed to meet its obligations for a $174 million loan to Singaporean commodities giant Vitol.
More recently Tinkler has been embroiled in legal disputes with former business partners, including coal miners Whitehaven and Mach Energy.
He was instrumental in the creation of Whitehaven, which consolidated his previous coal companies Aston Resources and Coalworks.
