The family and friends of Alan Bond are rallying at his side as the tycoon remains on life support after open heart surgery.
The English-born businessman was placed in an induced coma after undergoing surgery at Perth's Fiona Stanley Hospital to replace a heart valve on Tuesday.
In a statement, his children John, Craig and Jody said his condition had not improved.
"He has been essentially stable for the last 24 hours and we take some hope from that," they said.
"The family has been overwhelmed by messages of support and it is truly appreciated."
It is understood the 77-year-old had fallen ill while in London last week and decided to return home for the surgery to replace a heart valve that was previously installed almost 20 years ago.
"He also required repairs to two other valves in his heart," the family said in a statement on Wednesday.
Mr Bond's first wife Eileen Bond is also rushing to Perth from London to be with her former husband and their three children.
She is due to arrive on Thursday afternoon.
"We're praying and hoping that he pulls through this," Ms Bond told AAP on Wednesday.
Mr Bond is best known for being the first non-American to win the America's Cup sailing trophy, as well as the biggest fraudster in Australian history.
His America's Cup-winning Australia II skipper John Bertrand said Mr Bond was a fighter.
"Hopefully he will come through it, but to be honest, it doesn't look good, doesn't sound good," he told Nine Network on Thursday.
He was one of Australia's richest men during the 1980s, but Mr Bond's fall from grace began in 1992 when he declared bankruptcy.
He was jailed in 1997 for a $1.2 billion fraud involving his takeover of Bell Resources, but released in 2000 after a successful High Court appeal.
In 2008, BRW magazine named him among the 200 wealthiest people in Australia, with an estimated wealth of $265 million.
Mr Bond married theatre producer Diana Bliss - his second wife - in 1995. She died in 2012.
Share
