Google Director With Odd Business Practices Outed

googleau.jpgThe Australian Newspaper (part of the News Corp empire) has outed the strange business practices of Mark Tucker, Google Australia’s only Australian director as part of a piece on Google Street View and privacy.

According to Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC, Australia’s SEC) documents, Tucker maintains six different versions of himself, complete with varying birthdate, for his various corporate investments:

According to data filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, six different Mark Tuckers live at the Mona Vale address. All were born in the Sydney beachside suburb of Manly – but on slightly different dates.

According to ASIC records one Mr Tucker was born on January 21, 1953, one was born on January 13, 1953, another born on January 25, 1953.

Another Mr Tucker – who is both the director and secretary of a company called Bahama Acres Holding Company – is registered as living at the same address but was born on January 12, 1953.

A Mark Tucker living at the Mona Vale address – who is currently the director of the Tucker Family Superannuation Co – was born on January 12, 1963, while another Mr Tucker at the same address was born on March 12, 1953.

Tucker claimed that the varying dates were “typographical errors,” but 6 typographical errors? A company involved in the Bahama’s would automatically raise eyebrows, but six different records is more interesting considering that data matching for tax purposes in Australia usually relies on matching details of directors with a heavy emphasis on a directors date of birth.

There may be nothing untowards here, and we wouldn’t suggest that there is, but someone in Mountain View will be calling Australia shortly, if they haven’t already. There may also be an ASIC or ATO (Australian Tax Office) investigation into Tucker’s business affairs and that’s not going to be a good look for a Google Director.