Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt, with whom Trump allegedly shared nuclear secrets, is moving permanently to the United States

“I am honored to have received my green card for permanent residency in the United States last month,” Pratt said in a LinkedIn post on Sunday.

The “cardboard king” and chairman of private paper and packaging mills Visy and Pratt Industries said he has invested in 70 U.S. factories over the past 30 years, creating 12,000 jobs. Pratt’s family also consists exclusively of US citizens. He will travel frequently to his home country where he will continue to lead Visy Australia.

Pratt’s move coincides with Donald Trump’s return to the White House, which sent billionaires’ wealth soaring in a post-election surge in stock prices. Pratt, who is worth $12.3 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, was no exception, becoming $311 million richer the day after Trump’s election victory.

But Pratt and Trump’s relationship goes far beyond mere wealth. Trump is alleged to have passed potentially sensitive information about U.S. nuclear submarines to the Australian mogul, who in turn shared the secrets with dozens of other people, including journalists and foreign officials. ABC News reported in October 2023. The information reportedly shared at the Mar-a-Lago country club reportedly included the exact number of nuclear warheads routinely carried by submarines and the distance the subs are held back to remain undetected by Russian submarines. Pratt has been a member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club since 2017.

Trump is said to have taken highly sensitive information after leaving the White House in 2021, hiding it in his Mar-a-Lago home and showing it to officials who were not authorized to see it. The Justice Department has charged Trump with 40 crimes, including 32 counts of “willfully withholding” government documents under the Espionage Act – and all are likely to disappear after Trump’s inauguration. Prosecutors identified Pratt and 80 others as potential witnesses to testify against Trump in his trial over confidential documents.

Trump and Pratt did not immediately respond AssetsPlease comment.

Relationship status: It’s complicated

Trump’s goodwill toward Pratt began to waver shortly after the investigation revealed that Pratt allegedly knew about government secrets. The former president vehemently denied sharing information with Pratt, calling him “a red-headed weirdo from Australia” in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

But Pratt has had a good relationship with Trump for about a decade, which has given him insider status, having supported him since at least the 2016 election. The paper magnate pledged in 2017 to invest $2 billion in U.S. manufacturing jobs, primarily in the Midwest. In 2021, Pratt broke ground on a $500 million cardboard mill and paper mill in Kentucky.

“We pledged to invest $2 billion in America to create 5,000 high-paying manufacturing jobs, primarily in the Midwest,” Pratt said Bloomberg in December 2019. “That was music to President Trump’s ears.”

By comparison, Trump’s corporate tax cuts in 2017 helped make Pratt $2 billion richer. That same year, Pratt began running full-page ads in the Wall Street Journaland thanked the Trump administration for supporting U.S. manufacturing. The goodwill continued before the 2020 election, when Pratt reportedly offered to help Trump host his election party at his country club.

“When Potus hosts his election party at Mar Lago, I book as many rooms as are available,” Pratt told a colleague in a message obtained by federal investigators New York Times Investigation. “Reasons why he should do it [are] 1. It will strengthen Florida’s Electoral College. 2. It will be good for business.”

A newsletter for the bravest and smartest leaders:

CEO Daily is your morning dossier on the news, trends and conversations business leaders need to know.
Register here.