As a man used to handling billions of dollars in funds from institutional clients such as AustralianSuper and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, as well as orchestrating takeovers of businesses including Novotech and Infomedia, Joel Thickins is no stranger to high-pressure situations.
But the TPG co-head of Asia probably never expected to appear in court on criminal charges of negligent driving and twice refusing to take a breath test after crashing his car in Sydney on 1 June.
The entrance to the John Maddison Tower court building in Sydney was swarming with cameras, while the courtroom itself was close to overflowing, leaving only standing room as Thickins waited to learn his fate.
Magistrate Michael Barko described the incident as potentially the next worst outcome outside of “maiming or killing someone”.
