The Rise and Fall of Australia's Most Powerful Cattle Empire: The Kidman Dynasty
Industrial South
106,934 views
The Rise and Fall of Australia's Most Powerful Cattle Empire: The Kidman Dynasty
He ran away at thirteen with five shillings and a one-eyed horse. He died controlling three per cent of the mainland. Sidney Kidman wasn't just a cattleman. He was the largest private landholder in modern history. Land bigger than nations.
But in December 2016, after a family bred thin, his descendants sold S. Kidman & Co for A$386.5 million. The buyer was Gina Rinehart, a Chinese partner holding a third. Two Chinese bids were blocked first.
Today, the Kidman brand still burns into cattle hides on land Australia no longer fully owns. This is the story of how a boy who never owned the country built the biggest empire. And what its sale says about who owns Australia.
This is not just the story of Sidney Kidman. It's the story of a nation selling the ground beneath its legend.
#SidneyKidman #KidmanStation #AbandonedFactories #LostFactories #IndustrialDecline #AustralianManufacturing
20 Comments
The Kidman building still stands in Broken Hill now and always housed a butcher's shop there.
Gina Rineheart buys land Kidman leased. Something fishy there
Add AI slop that cant pronounce names, towns or rivers. Kidman was spoken Kidmon, Kidmarn.
I very much doubt he was honest. No one person can build an empire that big in early Australia being honest in my opinion. 100,000 square miles is a lot of country. Roughly Rockhampton to Sydney, going 100 miles inland.
The Rise and Fall of Australia's Most Powerful Cattle Empire: The Kidman Dynasty
Industrial South
106,934 views
The Rise and Fall of Australia's Most Powerful Cattle Empire: The Kidman Dynasty
He ran away at thirteen with five shillings and a one-eyed horse. He died controlling three per cent of the mainland. Sidney Kidman wasn't just a cattleman. He was the largest private landholder in modern history. Land bigger than nations.
But in December 2016, after a family bred thin, his descendants sold S. Kidman & Co for A$386.5 million. The buyer was Gina Rinehart, a Chinese partner holding a third. Two Chinese bids were blocked first.
Today, the Kidman brand still burns into cattle hides on land Australia no longer fully owns. This is the story of how a boy who never owned the country built the biggest empire. And what its sale says about who owns Australia.
This is not just the story of Sidney Kidman. It's the story of a nation selling the ground beneath its legend.
#SidneyKidman #KidmanStation #AbandonedFactories #LostFactories #IndustrialDecline #AustralianManufacturing
We were all off 15 and 16 years old, embarking on the biggest adventure we could imagine. Chasing mad cows on horseback all over the Australian outback, sitting by a camp fire and sleeping under the stars every single night. We loved every minute of it.