Rich List 2023
Featured
$650 for RM’s? ‘People want handcrafted,’ says Nicola Forrest
Nicola Forrest says people are tiring of throwaway fast fashion as the iconic company she co-owns lifts capacity to tap into a fast-growing market for women’s boots.
- Simon Evans
Forrests’ $10b philanthropic foundation to cut 100 jobs
Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation will shed about a third of its workforce in an overhaul aimed at making better use of its iron ore endowment.
- Brad Thompson
This Rich Lister sees a wave of distressed wine sales coming
The MD of Casella Family Brands, owner of Australia’s biggest-selling wine export brand Yellow Tail, says the under $10 per bottle segment is still shrinking.
- Simon Evans
Cettire shares slide 16pc on Bell Potter downgrade
The company’s house broker said the luxury marketplace would continue to outperform peers, but it would be harder for it to generate high growth.
- Updated
- Carrie LaFrenz and Jonathan Shapiro
Chemist Warehouse sales, profit surge ahead of ASX debut
Regulatory approval from the ACCC stands in the way of a combined Chemist Warehouse and Sigma, which have revealed robust financials before their merger.
- Updated
- Carrie LaFrenz and Jemima Whyte
Featured
Clive Palmer reaps $447m in royalties from Chinese adversaries
Rich Lister Clive Palmer says he is confident of success with massive damages claim against the federal and WA governments, and will stand his ground in a separate legal dispute with one of China’s biggest conglomerates.
- Updated
- Brad Thompson
How this billionaire is making his staff rich
The recent surge in WiseTech’s share price means Richard White isn’t the only one making money. Staff are sitting on a $320 million fortune.
- Yolanda Redrup
Rinehart blames Hancock pay gap on ‘helping women’ into mining
A 22 per cent gender pay gap at Hancock, versus a 15 per cent for all miners, is the temporary result of getting more women into the industry, Gina Rinehart says.
- Michael Bailey and Yolanda Redrup
Australia’s 75 richest women now control more than $151b
The wealth of Australia’s richest 75 women soared by 30 per cent over the past year, as entrepreneurs in resources, tech, property and fashion enjoyed the fruits of a resurgent market.
- Michael Bailey and Yolanda Redrup
The sum you need to make it into the top 1pc in Australia
Joining the top 1 per cent of wealthy Australians became easier last year as the country’s rich were hit with a weaker Aussie dollar and slowing economic growth.
- Primrose Riordan
February
Wealthy families are trying something new – ditching the secrecy
There’s a new breed of private investment vehicle for the super rich. And they’re less interested in managing money out of view than making more of it.
- Primrose Riordan
- Investigation
- Mining
The country’s most secretive billionaires are about to get much richer
Angela Bennett never wanted the family business. The daughter of prospector Peter Wright almost sold it all. Now it’s about to become a bonanza.
- Primrose Riordan and Tom Rabe
Forrests give $150m to gender equality fund
Billionaires Andrew and Nicola Forrest have put the largest grant from their Minderoo Foundation towards work to create a fairer world for women and girls.
- Brad Thompson
- Exclusive
- Food & drink
Zambrero billionaire sues former CEO to stop him taking credit
Sam Prince has accused Stuart Cook of “misleading or deceptive conduct” in talking up his work on the Mexican-themed restaurant chain’s success.
- Primrose Riordan
- Analysis
- Mining
Rinehart turns 70 at legal and lithium crossroads
As Australia’s richest person hits her milestone birthday, the market is testing Hancock Prospecting’s appetite for becoming a serious lithium force.
- Brad Thompson
Luxury marketplace Cettire looks to China as first-half sales soar
The company says demand for Tom Ford and Gucci fashion and accessories remains healthy, with first-half sales up 89 per cent. The stock surged 25 per cent.
- Updated
- Carrie LaFrenz
Rich List fortunes gouged by green metals slump
The wealth of mining executives and investors has taken a hit from the falling price of lithium and other minerals used in the transition from fossil fuels.
- Tom Richardson
- Exclusive
- Private banking
Former Credit Suisse, HSBC bankers target ultrarich with new bank
Volans opens its doors in May. It already has 17 employees on its books and is in the process of applying for a banking licence.
- Primrose Riordan
The heavy hitters behind Australia’s biggest conservative lobby group
Australia’s richest businesspeople have become major backers of Advance Australia, which helped lead the “no” campaign at the Indigenous Voice to parliament referendum.
- Updated
- Primrose Riordan and Andrew Tillett
January
Senior execs step up to steer Lang Walker’s legacy
The Rich List developer had already put in place succession planning within his vast property business early last year, handing over responsibility for running the company to a trusted group of lieutenants.
- Nick Lenaghan
- Exclusive
- Banking products
Crypto brothers, entrepreneurs shoot up Rich List as bitcoin rises
Here are the Rich Listers basking in a bull run which has, in some cases, added tens of millions of dollars to their net worth in just three months.
- Updated
- Primrose Riordan and Andrew Turner
Why this billionaire’s gift card company is still losing money after 10 years
Prezzee, which sells gift cards and is backed by Shaun Bonett, has shown a $40 million loss but says accounting rules are to blame.
- Primrose Riordan and Nick Bonyhady
- Exclusive
- Property investment
Inside the descent into chaos at a Chinese billionaire’s cattle empire
“My view was that animals would die, employees would leave, the companies would be sued, and then more cattle would die.”
- Primrose Riordan
Rich Lister Raphael Geminder poised to snare Pact
Kin Group has moved to an 85 per cent stake in the packaging group as a higher takeover bid gains traction.
- Simon Evans
- Exclusive
- Property development
Buckeridge family to relaunch sale of West Australian builder BGC
The company recorded a $63 million loss for the last financial year, according to new accounts. Construction costs had jumped 50 per cent in two years, it said.
- Primrose Riordan
- Exclusive
- Rich Listers
How some Rich Listers doubled their fortune in 2023 while others fell
The boom in IT stocks burnished the fortunes of Australia’s top tech entrepreneurs, while the crypto millionaires made a comeback.
- Primrose Riordan and Andrew Turner
December 2023
How Sam Kennard built a $2.6b empire
The influential business figure always had ambition to work and grow the family company. But he didn’t expect his dad to give him total control when he was just 24 years of age.
- Julie-anne Sprague
- Exclusive
- Commercial property finance
Sam Arnaout arrives at Hudson House, headquarters of the very rich
The billionaire publican has snapped up the offices once occupied by late television king Reg Grundy, signalling a changing of the guard among Sydney’s rich.
- Primrose Riordan and Campbell Kwan
Sigma could shed customers after Chemist Warehouse merger
The deal, creating an $8.8 billion retail and wholesaling giant, could even be blocked by competition regulators, according to analysts at Morningstar.
- Carrie LaFrenz and Tom Richardson
Chemist Warehouse duo to climb Rich List after Sigma deal
Documents associated with the merger, which will create a retail giant, show for the first time the precise shareholdings of Jack Gance and Mario Verrocchi.
- Michael Bailey
