The 2021 List
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Featured
Meet this year’s 26 new Young Rich Listers
There are 26 debutants on this year’s Young Rich List who have fashioned wealth in everything from online retail to cryptocurrency computer games.
- Julie-anne Sprague and Michael Bailey
Quitting McKinsey led this man to a $40m fortune
Young Rich Lister Alex Dorsch made his fortune from an old school industry, a rare feat among this year’s self-made entrepreneurs.
- Julie-anne Sprague
The women building fortunes from supplements, serums and squats
There are 11 entrepreneurs on this year’s Young Rich List carving out fortunes from a boom in health and wellness. They’re collectively worth $1.2 billion.
- Julie-anne Sprague
How the nation’s newest billionaire built a software giant
Tony Walls, the founder of software company Objective Corp, has quietly added $20 million a week to his wealth pile over the past five months.
- Updated
- Julie-anne Sprague
‘Know when to fold’: How Jack Cowin beat Burger King
Fast food billionaire Jack Cowin fought Burger King in court for five years. When he finally decided to fold, they didn’t believe him, and it ended up costing them $70 million.
- Julie-anne Sprague
Featured
- Exclusive
- Rich Listers
Virtual Gaming Worlds shuns ASX, hits record profit
The Perth-based online gaming platform paid out record profits and dividends in 2020-21, but the $3.4 billion company has all but ruled out an ASX listing.
- Michael Bailey
Rich Lister Jack Cowin thinks chicken will fly at Hungry Jack’s
Soaring beef prices and the rising popularity of chicken in the Australian diet has prompted Jack Cowin to shift into chicken burgers at Hungry Jack’s.
- Simon Evans
James Packer swaps superyacht for Mexican resort home
The Rich Lister has put the 108-metre luxury vessel on the market, although lifestyle changes rather than financial needs are thought to be behind the sale.
- Michael Bailey
- Updated
- Venture capital
Canva founders to give $16.5b fortune away
The married couple behind Canva are worth $16.5b after the visual communication platform hit a $55b valuation on Wednesday, but Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht plan to give almost all of it away.
- Updated
- Michael Bailey
- Exclusive
- Executive shake-up
Icon Group chairman Mark Compton left in April
The high-profile professor exited just four months after taking the role due to a perceived conflict of interest, as he is also chairman of possible suitor Sonic Healthcare.
- Carrie LaFrenz
August
‘Just in time’ approach is finished, says DGL Group boss
The chemicals manufacturer and storage group’s share price is up a staggering 150 per cent in the three months since listing on the ASX.
- Simon Evans
Envato profit soars as Rich List founders decamp to Darwin
Collis and Cyan Ta’eed are the first Financial Review Rich Listers to live in Darwin, and their online marketplace has just booked record profits, bankrolling their philanthropy.
- Michael Bailey
- Analysis
- Rich Listers
Andrew Forrest earns $2.3m every day
It’s wealth generation to make the eyes water. Since Fortescue started paying dividends in 2011, its founder has collected, on average, $2.35 million per day in dividends.
- Julie-anne Sprague
Rich Lister’s plant-based ‘meat’ expands to Europe, China
Hungry Jack’s founder, Jack Cowin, is a big shareholder in v2foods, now valued at $500 million-plus after a fresh $72 million capital raising.
- Simon Evans
July
Anthony Pratt makes biggest US investment ever
The $540 million paper mill in Kentucky is a sign the avowed Trump fan still believes in America.
- Updated
- Michael Bailey
Kerr Neilson gives record donation to support Shakespeare
The billionaire founder of Platinum Asset Management reveals deep, personal reasons for backing Bell Shakespeare’s work with $3 million.
- Michael Bailey
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.
- Julie-anne Sprague and James Thomson
Who are the 10 wealthiest executives in the ASX300?
The 2021 Rich Bosses list highlights the rise of resources and tech stocks, with a digital billionaire taking top spot.
- James Thomson
Meet the Rich Bosses who don’t have a boss
As tech and mining stocks boom, the number of executive chairmen on the Rich Bosses list is growing – even if the role still creates governance concerns.
- James Thomson
WiseTech’s Richard White tops Rich Bosses list
The CEO, who has displaced Seven Group Holdings executive chairman Kerry Stokes at No. 1, says Australia is hugely underweight on tech education.
- Patrick Durkin and James Thomson
Rich Lister David Tudehope on the keys to success
Persistence is crucial to starting and building a business that works, says the Macquarie Telecom CEO and co-founder.
- Sally Patten
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
June
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
May
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
