![Anthony Pratt first topped the Rich List in 2009 and since then its been a story of property and mining creating wealth.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170614121729/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/w/b/y/t/n/image.related.afrWideArticleLead.940x529.gvu1gq.png/1495766790324.jpg)
By the time Kerry Packer died in 2005, he had topped the ranks of the then BRW Rich 200 for 15 consecutive years, from 1990 onwards. This year's Financial Review Rich List, which continues a tradition of measuring the wealth of the nation's richest people that began at BRW in 1983, is topped by paper manufacturing and recycling tycoon Anthony Pratt.
Pratt was also in first place in the 2009 edition, with a $4.3 billion fortune, meaning Pratt and Packer are the only people in the Rich List's 34-year history to top the list eight years apart.
Pratt's wealth reaches a record $12.6 billion this year, at a time when a seemingly never-ending property boom and a resurgence in commodity prices has made many of this year's 200 rich listers wealthier than ever.
Total wealth on the list is $233.1 billion, meaning the average wealth of each rich lister is $1.16 billion, the first time average wealth has been more than $1 billion. There are also more billionaires than in any previous year – 60 to be exact, up from 53 a year ago.
![From left: Patrick Grove, Gina Rinehart, Harry Triguboff, Joy Chambers, Frank Lowy, Len Ainsworth and, seated, Anthony Pratt.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170614121729/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/w/3/6/z/d/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1494546483394.jpg)
Many of those joining the billionaire ranks do so due to property. Canberra Airport owner Terry Snow is worth $1 billion thanks to the huge commercial assets he has built adjacent to the terminal, while veteran transport magnate Peter Gunn has parlayed his original fortune into office and industrial blocks around the country.
The different names that have topped the list between Pratt's two stints tell a story of Australia's quintessential wealth-making industries: property and mining.
Pratt's 2009 pre-eminence was followed in 2010 by Westfield supremo Frank Lowy, underlining the strength and resilience of the commercial property sector.
He in turn was followed by iron ore magnate Gina Rinehart, who rode the mining boom to the top of the list for five consecutive years.
In 2016 it was Harry Triguboff, the apartments king, cashing in on the relentless rise in property prices in Sydney. Lowy has maintained his wealth, while that of Rinehart and Triguboff has risen as mining and property grow.
The presence of the Pratt and Packer names on every list since 1983 reflects more similarities than the passing of wealth from father to son.
Pratt's fortune comes from manufacturing and there is little spreading of the risk; he's all-in with Visy in Australia and Pratt Industries in the United States, where most of his recent increase in wealth has come from.
Similarly, James Packer is putting all his chips into Crown Resorts, selling off assets over the past year such as his shares of the RatPac movie production business and Pretty Girl fashion chain.
Over the past two years Packer has split some of the family wealth with sister Gretel, who joins the billionaire ranks for the first time this year.
She's a welcome addition to a rich list that includes only 22 women in total in 2017.
Other newcomers include the highest ranking debutant, Perth businessman Tim Roberts, scion of Multiplex founder John Roberts, at position 62 with a $986 million fortune; and Tim Kentley-Klay, the chief executive of Californian driverless car technology firm Zoox. His stake in the firm is worth $470 million.
Kentley-Klay's is new money but old wealth still dominates the list, both in how it's been made and the age of those holding it.
The average age of this year's Rich List members is 66. There are seven people aged in their 90s and another 21 who are octogenarians.