Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has once again topped the Financial Review Rich List, becoming Australia’s richest person worth a record $31.06 billion – up $2.2 billion in just six months.
Nine Publishing today has released the best value edition of The Australian Financial Review you’ll get this year. A hard copy and the digital version of the daily business bible comes with a 96-page Rich List 200 magazine tracking the fortunes of Australia’s wealthiest. That’s the same publication that The Apprentice Australia’s Lord Sugar reads on the way to work in his limo at the start of the Nine reality show.
The 2021 Rich List provides new insight into the strength of the rebound after last year’s recession, with the economy’s three main sectors – iron ore, retail and property – leading the recovery out of COVID-19 and driving the wealth of the country’s top 200.
This year’s Rich List has seen Australia’s 200 richest increase their collective wealth to $479.6 billion – up from last year’s $424.6 billion – with their wealth equivalent to 25 per cent of Australia’s $1.9 annual trillion gross domestic product. Encouragingly, this year sees a record number of women on the Rich List with 39, representing 18 per cent of the list.
The full 39th annual Rich List, compiled by editors Julie-anne Sprague and Michael Bailey, features the nation’s richest man, Andrew Forrest, on the cover; a rare profile interview with John Hancock, son of Gina Rinehart; Brisbane glamour couple Keri Craig and Trevor Lee; and debutants Grant Petty and Doug Clarke of Blackmagic Designs, as well as Megan Wynne of human services giant APM.
With the price of iron ore now at record levels thanks to a surge in Chinese demand, Pilbara mining mogul Andrew Forrest comes in at No.2 with a wealth of $27.2 billion, up from $23 billion. Clive Palmer has also seen his wealth increase from $9 billion to $13 billion and now sits at No.7.
But as the world moves deeper into the digital realm, Rich Listers with exposure to the technology sector are nipping at the heels of miners.
Atlassian’s Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar now have fortunes exceeding $20 billion each, with Cannon-Brookes coming in at No.3 with $20.18 billion, up from $16.93 billion, and Farquhar sitting at No.5 on $20 billion, up from $16.69 billion.
And with a global surge in online shopping, Anthony Pratt’s cardboard box manufacturer Visy has taken him and his family to 4th spot with $20.09 billion, up from $19 billion.
Breaking into the Top 10 on the back of their Canva graphic design software business are Melanie Perkins, 34, and Cliff Obrecht, 35. The couple is worth $7.98 billion, up from $3.43 billion last year. They are the youngest Rich Listers in the Top 10. Alongside Gina Rinehart, the emergence of Melanie Perkins marks the first time two women have appeared in the Top 10 Rich List since 2016.
With Australia’s real estate obsession hitting new heights, Meriton founder Harry Triguboff has built his wealth from $14.42 billion last year to $17.27 billion in 2021 and takes 6th place. Hong Kong-based property mogul Hui Wing Mau slipped from 4th to 8th as his wealth decreased sharply from $18.06 billion to $11.70 billion.
Frank Lowy’s impeccable timing in offloading Westfield in 2018 has ensured his wealth remains stable at $8.5 billion, positioning him in 9th place.
Australia now has a record 111 billionaires, and the cut-off to make the Rich List sits at an all-time high of $590 million, up from the $540 million needed to secure a spot in 2020.
This year’s Rich List contains 20 debutants, including Tania Austin who debuts at No.153 with $721 million, thanks to the success of fashion chain Decjuba, and Robyn Denholm with $688 million (ranked 162nd) based on the Tesla stock options she has picked up as the electric car maker’s chair. Also joining the Rich List are Grant Petty and Doug Clarke (199th and 200th with $592 million and $590 million respectively), the co-founders of Blackmagic Designs whose sales of affordable, high-end cameras and video production equipment has boomed off demand from YouTubers and social media influencers.
“The commodities boom is fuelling extraordinary wealth generation among our Rich Listers. Collectively the Rinehart family is worth $40 billion, twice the amount of the next richest family on the list, the Pratts,” Rich List co-editor, Julie-anne Sprague, said.
“This year’s Rich List features a record number of women, many of whom have built their businesses from the ground up and expanded offshore. They include Mecca’s Jo Horgan, Decjuba’s Tania Austin and Megan Wynne, a one-time occupational therapist who’s now running the $1.5 billion human services giant, APM.”
Rich List co-editor Michael Bailey said: “The remote-work revolution is also helping fuel wealth for the nation’s technology billionaires. The fortunes of Atlassian founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar have passed $20 billion for the first time as their paying customer base rises beyond 200,000.
“Another Australian-made software-as-a-service gaining global ubiquity is Canva. Founders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht cracked the Rich List’s top 10 as their simplified graphic design platform amasses a population of active users on par with the population of Italy.”
The Financial Review Rich List 2021 Highlights
TOP 10 (worth a collective $177.05 billion)
- Gina Rinehart – $31.06 billion (up from $28.89 billion) – Resources, Agriculture
- Andrew Forrest – $27.25 billion (up from $23 billion) – Resources
- Mike Cannon-Brookes – $20.18 billion (up from $16.93 billion) – Technology
- Anthony Pratt & family – $20.09 billion (up from $19.75 billion) – Manufacturing
- Scott Farquhar – $20 billion (up from $16.69 billion) – Technology
- Harry Triguboff – $17.27 billion (up from $14.42 billion) – Property
- Clive Palmer – $13.01 billion (up from $9.18 billion) – Resources
- Hui Wing Mau – $11.70 billion (down from $18.06 billion) – Property
- Frank Lowy – $8.51 billion (up from $8.3 billion) – Property
- Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht – $7.98 billion (up from $3.43 billion) – Technology
STATE BY NUMBERS
NSW – 72 Rich Listers (69 last year)
VIC – 58 (59 last year)
QLD – 21 (23 last year)
WA – 20 (21 last year)
SA, TAS, NT, ACT – all have 1 each (1 each last year)
TOP 5 WOMEN RICH LISTERS (Combined wealth of $48.86 billion)
- Gina Rinehart (ranked 1) – $31.06 billion
- Melanie Perkins with Cliff Obrecht (10) – $7.98 billion
- Alexandra Burt & Leonie Baldock (27) – $3.96 billion
- Katie Page with Gerry Harvey (28) – $3.20 billion
- Betty Klimenko & Monica Weinberg-Saunders (37) – $2.66 billion