Clive Palmer was sometimes the only person present when he held "meetings" about Queensland Nickel and used a pencil to jot down critical decisions in a diary that few others saw.
The full scope of Mr Palmer's power at Queensland Nickel was laid bare in court on Friday, during an all-day grilling by liquidators who are trying to claw back $70 million in taxpayer funds used to pay out almost 800 axed workers.
Liquidators have painstakingly examined the contents of an old green diary Mr Palmer carried with him, and used to jot down decisions that affected the scope of his influence at the nickel business.
Queensland Nickel was owned by a joint venture that was in turn owned by two of Mr Palmer's other companies.
That's how he came to be one of just two people on a joint venture owners' committee that made key decisions about Queensland Nickel.
Mr Palmer, who arrived and left court flanked by burly bodyguards, told the court of occasions when he held one-man meetings where he passed resolutions about the oversight of the business.
On other occasions the only other member of the committee - his nephew, Queensland Nickel's sole appointed director Clive Mensink - was there too.
In April 2012, a resolution was passed giving Mr Palmer the authority to tell Queensland Nickel how to spend its money.
That included the authority to direct Queensland Nickel to make political donations, support his other businesses, provide staff to those other operations, and even forgive loans.
But Mr Palmer said there was nothing untoward about any of that, given Queensland Nickel was owned by companies that belonged entirely to him.
He said he acted at all times within the scope of the legal powers he had under the joint venture agreements.
And he repeatedly denied he was controlling day to day operations such as contract approvals.
"I'm acting at all times on behalf of the joint venture owners' committee," Mr Palmer told the court.
He said he had an obligation as chair of the owners' committee to oversee expenditure, including any purchases over $500, and that was not the same thing as Clive Palmer the individual getting involved in the day to day running and financial affairs of Queensland Nickel.
Mr Palmer also shed some light on the whereabouts of his nephew.
Liquidators have been unable to serve Mr Mensink with a summons as he's been overseas for an extended period of time.
After saying earlier in the day that Mr Mensink was in Berlin when the pair spoke last week, he later indicated his true location was probably much further north, on a ship near the Arctic.
He said he'd try to track his nephew down over the weekend and would share his location on his return to court on Monday "if I make contact".
