The 2021 List
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Featured
Richest executives are younger than ever
There’s an increasing likelihood that your boss, who’s earning a lot more than you, could also be much younger than you.Â
- Julie-anne Sprague and James Thomson
How Rich Lister Peter Cooper’s ‘next gen’ is picking winners
He’s reducing his holding in the investment firm he set up 20 years ago as its next generation of fundies trawl the globe for family and founder businesses.
- Julie-anne Sprague
- Exclusive
- Tax minimisation
Australia’s biggest SMSF is worth $544m
Twenty-seven self-managed superannuation funds held more than $100 million each in concessionally taxed savings in fiscal 2019, prompting calls for reform.
- Michael Roddan
Forrest joins Bill Gates-led billionaires in green venture fund
Andrew Forrest has joined a global band of billionaires in backing a Bill Gates-led venture capital fund aimed at financing emerging green tech companies.
- Brad Thompson
How two Melbourne entrepreneurs stole the beauty market
Jo Horgan and Kate Morris are loosening the powerful grip that department stores have held on Australia’s beauty industry.
- Lauren Sams and Julie-anne Sprague
Featured
How we shot the 2021 Rich List
There were a few dramas trying to capture some of the stunning photos for this year’s list of Australia’s wealthiest people.
- Matthew Drummond
Why Justin Hemmes keeps spending millions on pubs
The celebrity publican’s $150 million-plus buying spree in the middle of a pandemic might seem risky, but love is as much in play as money.
- Michael Bailey
The 200 richest people in Australia revealed
Australia’s billionaires have thrived during the pandemic year – and some on this year’s Rich List have reaped even bigger rewards from a soaring iron ore price.
- Updated
- Michael Bailey and Julie-anne Sprague
Andrew Forrest is defying sceptics to wrangle a green energy future
Australia’s second-richest person is chasing the next big dream: a carbon neutral world.
- Julie-anne Sprague
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Rich List renews and repurposes
Recycled, regenerated, renewable: this year’s Australian Financial Review Rich List shows Australia’s richest people are repurposing business for sustainability.
- The AFR View
May
High-Rise Harry is putting on an extra bedroom
The demand for large apartments close to workplaces is the strongest Harry Triguboff has ever seen, helping drive the Rich List stalwart’s rebound this year.
- Michael Bailey
How a career break and coffee turned into a $3.4b business
The Melbourne cafe that Lucy Liu used to hang out at has produced three Young Rich listers and a company now worth billions.
- Yolanda Redrup
- No.102
- Live exports
‘Romance of biblical proportions’ powers Rich List couple
Trevor Lee and Keri Craig-Lee are among Australia’s largest landholders and biggest beef suppliers. Their marriage, they say, is a big part of their success.
- Jemima Whyte
Forrest in $142m takeover bid for Canadian nickel player
Iron ore billionaire Andrew Forrest has unveiled his offer for a company with control of a high-grade project as he focuses on diversifying into green energy.
- Brad Thompson
Street cred propels Culture Kings onto Rich List
Simon and Tah-nee Beard started off selling clothes at a Gold Coast market. Now their estimated net wealth is $626 million and Culture Kings is bound for the US.
- Julie-anne Sprague
- No. 44
- Rich families
The son of Australia’s richest person on forging his own path
After a decade of legal fights with his mother, John Hancock is making his own way in the world. And so far the returns are good.
- Updated
- Julie-anne Sprague
- No.176
- Other Passions
Warhol and wallpaper: Rich Lister reveals her love of interior design
By day, she’s the founder and managing director of APM Group. After hours, Megan Wynne indulges her passion for interiors.
- Julie-anne Sprague
How John Hancock backed the market’s biggest winner
A chat on a chairlift above Canada’s playground for the rich led John Hancock to make an investment in what turned out to be Australia’s best performing stock over the past year.
- Julie-anne Sprague
- No. 199
- Rich Listers
From housing commission kid to showbiz technology star
The most interesting thing about making this year’s Financial Review Rich List, says Grant Petty, is making certain people shut up and take notice.
- Michael Bailey
The Rich Listers set to profit from saving the climate
A growing number of ultra-wealthy people are investing in ways to make business more sustainable, and therefore more competitive – and profitable.
- James Thomson
Meet the 20 people making their Rich List debut
Twenty people appear on the Financial Review Rich List for the first time when it’s revealed on Friday, including seven from Australia’s growing tech sector.
- Michael Bailey and Julie-anne Sprague
Seek co-founder seeks to disrupt private family wealth offices
Matthew Rockman claims to have found a gap in the market for servicing wealthy families who want a bespoke portfolio with an active role in how it is invested.
- Michael Bailey
Meet the Forrest family’s $30b deal maker
Despite serving time for insider trading, former stockbroker John Hartman impressed the billionaire mining magnate with his diligence, intelligence and (perhaps ironically) honesty.
- Brad Thompson
April
Why this plant-based ‘meat’ group listens to Ruslan Kogan
Deliciou has some new high-profile shareholders to add to an investment made by the Kogan.com founder.
- Simon Evans
Canva founders among 10 wealthiest Australians after $93m raise
Canva founders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht are among the 10 wealthiest Australians after the graphic design software company hit a valuation of $US15 billion.
- Updated
- Michael Bailey
March
Palmer bonanza as China’s CITIC nears billion-tonne iron ore deal
A judge has cleared the way for Chinese conglomerate CITIC to secure the rights to mine another billion tonnes of iron ore in WA, delivering Clive Palmer a massive royalties windfall.
- Brad Thompson
Bluey the cartoon puppy delivers Rich List boost to Moose Toys family
The Melbourne-based creators of the Shopkins craze have another hit on their hands, thanks to a cartoon blue heeler from Brisbane.
- Michael Bailey
How Megan Wynne went from occupational therapist to $1.5b empire
After creating one of the world’s biggest employment services companies, Megan Wynne is about to join the Rich List - and she’s plotting the next phase of growth.
- Julie-anne Sprague
Why so many Rich Women are media-shy
Many female founders of big Australian businesses have much lower profiles than their male counterparts, and ingrained sexism could explain their silence.
- Michael Bailey
Leadership shake-up at Rinehart’s Roy Hill mine
Roy Hill boss Barry Fitzgerald will move into board roles as the company’s billionaire owner praised his role in creating the nation’s fourth-biggest iron ore producer.
- Brad Thompson
