Dressed in a body-hugging, bejewelled, white evening gown with a plunging neckline, gold microphone in hand, the American songstress tottered across the stage at Crown Melbourne on soaring heels, fumbling for the right words.

"Spectacular, handsome," she began, swishing a hand in the air as if in search of a missing song lyric. "I don't have words for the man who introduced me tonight, I'll just say - the amazing Mr James Packer."

It was New Year's Eve last year.

Packer, the fifth richest Australian with an estimated $5 billion fortune, had flown his girlfriend to Australia for a special invitation-only performance at the centrepiece of his Australian casino empire.

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop and her partner, property developer David Panton, were among invited guests, welcoming in the new year. So was Packer's mum, Ros.

The crowd cooed at the public display of affection before Carey dived into her set including No.1 hits Hero and Always Be My Baby, that helped build her $500 million fortune.

For the twice-married, twice-divorced Packer, the performance was a very public way for the publicity averse tycoon to usher in the new year - not to mention a promotional coup for his casino.

The billionaire and the diva had unveiled their relationship with a hand-holding stroll through Capri, Italy, in June last year, sending gossip sites and social media into a frenzy.

By January, Carey was sporting a reported $10 million 35-carat diamond engagement ring, and moving with her two children from New York to Los Angeles to be closer to her new beau's American base.

After an unhappy split in 2013 from second wife Erica and an extraordinary public brawl in 2014 in a Bondi street with best man David Gyngell, Packer appeared to be back.

He had recently finalised a difficult billion-dollar settlement with sister Gretel, splitting assets from his late father Kerry's estate.

There was hope the worst was behind his Macau gaming operations with Melco Crown, while he had all but secured final sign-off on plans for a casino on Sydney Harbour at Barangaroo.

Here was a happy James Packer - fit (albeit still sucking down the ciggies) and smiling in public. By all accounts, 2016 was shaping as a year to remember.

Turmoil sets in

But by mid year, Packer's life was again in turmoil.

A nasty split with Carey was laid bare in the gossip pages, descending into a stoush over a $50 million "inconvenience fee" for the break-up and a pre-nup described as making Carey look like a mail order bride; a new book detailing Packer's relationship with Scientology; not to forget a $300 million Tax Office bill from a disastrous foray into American casinos a decade ago.

And then the hammer blow - 18 employees of his Crown Resorts empire - including four Australians - were detained in China amid allegations of "gambling crimes".

It would spark a near-$2 billion sharemarket selloff, wiping upwards of half a billion from his personal wealth. It cast a pall over Crown's Australian business model, targeting VIPs from China and its ability to lure the biggest fish to his proposed Sydney fun palace.

Questions emerged over whether Packer could have - indeed should have - foreseen the risks in China. And on the personal front, eyebrows were raised over Packer's judgment in becoming involved with a diva determined to let cameras record her every move.

The rollercoaster ride that has taken him through business triumph and failure, two marriage break-ups and to the brink during the global financial crisis, was again threatening to engulf James Douglas Packer.

Going global 

Kerry Packer (left) with his son James in 2004. Photo: AP

"There aren't many Australians who have built a truly global business," Packer told News Corp in August 2015. "I am going to give it my all to be one of the Australians who succeeds in that ambition."

The largest shareholder in Crown Resorts, controlling half of Australia's biggest casino operator, was resigning from the board, preferring to leave its oversight in the hands of trusted lieutenants while he played the role of a roaming global executive scouring the world for deals.

Since the death of his father, Kerry, in 2005, Packer has recast the family empire - away from media and with a strong global influence.

Even a 2007 horror US casino deal that saw his $1.7 billion investment written down to zero when the economy tanked and a market rout that saw him losing $8000 a minute didn't turn him off, expanding casino interests in Asia via Melco Crown.

In the wake of his 2013 marriage split from Erica Baxter, Packer escaped the fishbowl of Sydney, dividing his time between LA and Israel.

In the US he was closer to his movie production company RatPac, a joint venture with producer and friend Brett Ratner, which has box office hits such as George Clooney and Sandra Bullock's Gravity and a mega-movie deal with Hollywood studio Warner Bros. He's also recently penned casino deals with actor Robert De Niro in the Caribbean, highlighting his use of Hollywood stardust to promote his casinos.

Israel connection

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: AP

But it's his relationship with Israel that has been subject of speculation around two factors - residency and tax.

Packer is said to be close to the family of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and owns a house in the beachside city of Caesarea, near the Netanyahu family's holiday home. Movie producer Arnon Milchan is believed to have brought the pair together.

Packer was on hand to witness Netanyahu's historic address to the US Congress. His mate Ratner even told an audience last year Packer had become an Israeli citizen, a claim shot down by Australian advisers.

In recent weeks, reports emerged police are making inquiries into Netanyahu's family amid claims Packer provided family members with luxury hotels stays and tickets to Carey's concerts.

Packer also reportedly registered with Israeli tax authorities in a move being interpreted by local media as a step towards becoming an Israeli resident.

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri was reported to have confirmed that Packer opened a file with Israel's tax authorities, a prerequisite to attaining residency for wealthy emigres, newspaper Haaretz said.

"One possible explanation for Packer's interest in Israeli residency is the large tax breaks he might be entitled to as a well-off new resident," Haaretz said.

A spokesman for the billionaire said Packer "is unable to do any interviews at present". The spokesman did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

International ambitions have defined Packer in recent years but it's those offshore interests that caused much of the 2016 heartache, in particular China, leaving questions about risks to his biggest unfinished project - Crown Sydney at Barangaroo.

China 'crimes'

They swooped without warning late in the evening of Thursday, October 13.

Police arrived at a Crown employee's home in the south-western city of Chengdu. A few hours later, police raided the home of Crown employee Jiang Ling.

Soon after, Jason O'Connor, Crown's head of VIP operations, was racing to Shanghai airport, having learned two employees had been detained by police at a train station.

Across the country police seized computers, phones and documents, detaining the employees on suspicion of illegal gambling marketing.

By the time they finished they had staged 20 raids in four cities and had 18 Crown employees in custody, including three Australians - O'Connor, Jerry Xuan and Pan Dan. A fourth Australian had already been released.

When Crown couldn't contact its employees the next day it was clear something was wrong. Crown informed the Department of Foreign Affairs and waited for confirmation from Chinese authorities.

When financial markets opened on Monday, investor assessment was brutal: Packer's Crown Resorts was in a situation it couldn't control in a foreign country, its employees detained on suspicion of "gambling crimes" and its business strategy of attracting high spending Chinese whales to its casinos seemingly in tatters.

Crown's shares went into freefall. Crown sought to reassure the market while Packer expressed "deep concern" for the employees.

Warnings ignored

Billionaire Lawrence Ho and James Packer before the opening of Melco's Studio City casino resort in Macau. Photo: Bloomberg

It didn't take long for the financial press to ask whether Packer should have seen the China crackdown coming. And ask what Crown directors and members of its risk committee - Rowena Danziger, Geoff Dixon and Rowen Craigie - had done to identify risks.

A delicate game of diplomacy with China's ruling authorities swung into action.

But the warning signs had been there. For years the former Portuguese colony of Macau had been exempt from gambling restrictions and foreign players eyed it to target the gambling mad Chinese.

Crown's investment in one third of Melco Crown alongside Lawrence Ho, the son of China's so-called King of Gambling, Stanley, appeared to be paying off. Crown investors were hopeful of a healthy dividend stream from Melco Crown. But no sooner had Melco Crown paid its first dividend in 2014 than a Chinese government crackdown on corruption and money laundering devastated Macau's casino business.

"I would say that 2015 was really the worst year in gaming in history for Macau," Lawrence Ho reflected recently. "We've never seen a 35 per cent decline in Macau's overall gaming revenue." He doesn't envisage things improving anytime soon.

Crackdown continued

The second warning sign came when China launched operation "Chain Break" in February last year to cut the ties between big spending gamblers and foreign casinos.

Marketing gambling is illegal in China. But casinos became remarkably adept at spruiking other attractions at their so-called "integrated resorts". Chinese authorities reportedly warned Crown last year to stop trying to attract high rollers from the mainland to gamble overseas.

Marketing plays a big role in drawing attention to casinos around the world - be it hosting boxing title fights or big name singers taking up residence to perform to punters.

Last year, Melco Crown raised eyebrows when it spent $70 million for a 15-minute Martin Scorsese film, The Audition, starring Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt. The three stars were said to have pocketed $13 million - each.

The plot centred on De Niro and DiCaprio playing themselves and unexpectedly finding themselves at a casino, competing for the same role in a Scorsese film.

It was released the week Melco Crown opened its $3.2-billion Hollywood-themed casino resort Studio City in Macau. The stars were on hand for the red carpet.

Packer confirmed in interviews that Melco Crown paid for half of the production cost, and Crown Resorts paid for the other half. The film garnered significant news coverage for the casino.

But the detention of Crown staff signalled Beijing was again focusing on overseas casino operators. Analysts began crunching the numbers about the possible impact of the China raids.

More than a third of Crown's revenue at its Australian casinos such as Perth and Melbourne comes from international visitors, predominantly mainland Chinese.

"[The detentions] suggests there's going to be some kind of crackdown," Daniel Mueller, from Forager Funds Management, told Bloomberg. "Any setback could jeopardise returns on Barangaroo."

More than money

James Packer on Channel Seven's Sunday Night. Photo: Channel Seven

Packer was crying in front of the cameras. In a 2013 appearance on the Seven Network's Sunday Night program, Packer was reflecting on life in the shadow of his father.

Packer revealed deeply personal details about how his by-then seriously unwell father had rung him shortly before Christmas 2005 - days before he died - to tell him to always be his own man.

The interview revealed Packer's deep affection for his father. But it also contained a blunt message. James was intent on winning approval for his biggest deal of all, and one that would leave a legacy of his own in Sydney - building the city's biggest casino at Barangaroo.

"I am a believer that the rise of the Chinese middle class is going to change the world and I think for Australia it's an enormous tourism opportunity and I think that Sydney should have something that's better than anywhere," Packer said.

"It ticks the final box in me being my own man. It's more than just money."

There's nothing understated about the $2 billion Crown Sydney project - a 71-storey waterfront tower, a VIP casino, with 350 hotel rooms and luxury apartments including a potential $100 million penthouse, restaurants, bars and luxury retail outlets.

Crown slipping

An artist's impression of the Barangaroo development. 

But today the detention of Crown staff in China has the market asking questions about potential impact on the project, including financing.

The China situation poses a risk to Crown's VIP gaming revenues because Crown's ability to market itself to visitors has been cruelled, while China's burgeoning middle class may think twice about gambling abroad.

Another risk stems from the strict probity checks surrounding casino operations and potential regulatory impacts from convictions against employees. Crown could, for example, be forced by casino regulators to operate under more restrictive licence conditions if employees are found guilty of breaking Chinese gambling laws.

Credit Suisse analyst Larry Gandler told clients the consequences for Crown will be "serious" and says that if, for example, staff were found guilty there would be "certain specific grounds for disciplinary action".

Ratings agencies acknowledge the risk but say Crown should be able to navigate the waters. Crown has sought to reassure investors about the extent of its exposure to VIP gaming, saying its operations are in strong cash generation mode.

In addition, Crown's dividend flow from Melco Crown is nothing like what analysts were predicting several years ago.

The questions about finance highlight the importance of the property development component of Crown's Barangaroo project - half the floors in the hotel-casino complex are earmarked for apartments, including a two-storey penthouse that could approach the $100 million-mark.

The attraction of the Barangaroo precinct is whetting the appetite for off-the-plan sales. Agents and auctioneers are selling apartments in other buildings along the exclusive strip for almost double the price for which they were bought off the plan three years ago.

As Packer contemplates how to fund Crown's development pipeline, his ability to realise his dream for a casino in the harbour city may lie in Sydney's oldest trick - property.

Both 'just normal'

Backstage in Paris before an April concert, Mariah Carey was interviewed by American TV show Entertainment Tonight about wedding preparations.

"I tried my dress last night, it looks good," she said, scoffing when asked about a traditional wedding: "Traditional? It's my third wedding. We're both just normal about it."

But questioned about an upcoming eight-part reality television program based on her life, Carey acknowledged her new beau's view about life in the spotlight.

"He's not really that type of 'let me be a star' type of person, so I can't force that."

Packer and Carey met in late 2013 in Aspen through a common friend - Packer's movie producing business partner and the man behind Carey's music videos, Brett Ratner.

Once public, Carey spruiked her relationship on social media: happy snaps on a boat in Greece, arm in arm backstage at a concert, or just at dinner. But the updates soon dried up.

At the end of August, Packer's trip home for his only sister's 50th birthday was off, blamed on business commitments in Israel.

Then, just as Packer's business woes were dominating the headlines with Crown staff detained in China and a delicate round of diplomatic negotiations underway, the engagement was off. Woman's Day, a former Packer mag, blamed the split on Mariah's "extravagant spending".

The gloves were off. American celebrity site TMZ, synonymous with the fast-breaking online world of celebrity gossip and news, led the charge.

Public battle

TMZ claimed that in February, soon after their engagement, Packer and Carey were trying to hammer out a pre-nup so they could marry in March, revealing details of a 100-page agreement, which TMZ suggested made Carey look like a mail order bride.

Among conditions: "Except for gifts between them for their engagement, wedding or on birthdays and anniversaries, no item of jewelry and/or personal adornment costing over $250,000 will be deemed a gift unless accompanied by, or promptly followed by, a writing specifically stating 'This is my gift to you'."

The use a private aircraft by Carey, or for her children or nannies, would only be made when Packer "deems it is appropriate to do so".

But the main reason negotiations supposedly hit a snag was a provision that said "James will pay Mariah, and Mariah shall accept, $6 million dollars per year for each full year of marriage, up to a maximum of $30 million ... adjusted pro-rata on a weekly basis [$151,385 per week]."

Carey wanted a $50 million settlement clause.

An email chain from mid-February purportedly showed the billionaire upset that advisers weren't moving fast enough on the pre-nup so he could marry on March 1 in Bora Bora.

"I don't know who's working for who because there are a lot of names I haven't heard before on this email chain," TMZ reported Packer writing. "The people who work for me -- message -- do as I say or f*** off. I want to get married on March 1st. James."

Ultimately, Carey demanded a $50 million inconvenience fee for moving the family from New York to LA. And a mansion.

Packer reportedly took the view that because they weren't married, he owed her nothing. Talks broke down amid threats of lawsuits, with Mariah accusing James of being a "lying opportunist".

Carey's camp wasn't blaming the break-up on James, rather "she blames it on famed, former Scientology bigwig Tommy Davis". Packer supposedly brought Davis in partially to help curb spending.

The link with Davis dovetailed with the release of author Steve Cannane's book on Scientology, including claims the organisation was using Packer to try to recruit another billionaire's son.

"Locking in James was the first step in a bid to recruit Lachlan Murdoch, son of Rupert," Cannane wrote in Fair Game: The incredible untold story of Scientology in Australia.

(Murdoch denied to Cannane he had ever contemplated joining Scientology.)

Packer has gone to ground since the split with Carey. Crown's actions in dealing with the situation in China are being conducted behind closed doors.

One close associate tells Fairfax Media Packer is relieved the Carey episode is over. He made a mistake, says the associate, falling for someone who had achieved enormous success.

However disastrous the coverage may have been, it meant reports of his woes in China fell off the front pages.

Not long after the gossip magazines tired of the story, Carey was back on the road.

In November she sang for Saks Fifth Avenue at its Christmas window unveiling. She was paid $US500,000 - per song. For her seven-minute, two-song performance, she took home $US1 million.

Carey's career powers on, regardless of the headlines of relationship turmoil.

For James Packer, the end of the pop love story comes as his life is again at a turning point: as he approaches his 50th birthday next year, the personal and the professional remain finely balanced.