The Australian Financial Review Rich List has reached a new high, with Australia’s 200 largest fortunes now worth a collective $707 billion.
The 2026 list shows the country’s wealthiest entrepreneurs added $39 billion in combined wealth over the past year. It also marks a shift in the make-up of the list, with artificial intelligence and data centre founders joining mining, property and retail figures among Australia’s richest people.
The top 178 rankings on the Rich 200 now have estimated fortunes of $1 billion or more. That means nearly nine in 10 people on the list are billionaires.
Gina Rinehart tops Rich List again
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has topped the Rich List for the seventh consecutive year, with estimated wealth of $39.01 billion.
Rinehart’s wealth rose by $900 million over the past year. Property developer Harry Triguboff ranked second with $32.29 billion, followed by Anthony Pratt and family on $25.19 billion.
Former Glencore chief executive Ivan Glasenberg ranked fourth after his estimated wealth rose from $13 billion to $22.38 billion. Mining magnate and Trumpet of Patriots frontman Clive Palmer rounded out the top five with $19.56 billion.
AI and data centres enter the rankings
This year’s list is the first where artificial intelligence and data centres have made a clear mark on Australian wealth creation.
Among the 15 debutants are Swipejobs founder Katrina Leslie, who ranked 67th with $2.5 billion, and Firmus co-founder Oliver Curtis, who ranked 146th with $1.25 billion.
Grafana Labs co-founder Anthony Woods ranked 194th with $881 million. Brothers Daniel Roberts and William Roberts, former Macquarie executives who founded Iren in 2018, debuted at 200th with $853 million.
Their fortunes reflect the growing role of AI infrastructure and data centres in the Rich List.
Technology fortunes take a hit
While AI-linked wealth rose, some established technology figures fell down the rankings after listed software-as-a-service companies lost significant value.
Mike Cannon-Brookes dropped from 13th to 22nd, with his estimated wealth falling from $12.18 billion in 2025 to $6.71 billion.
Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar and wife Kim Jackson, who leads Skip Capital, dropped from fourth to 13th. Their wealth fell from $21.4 billion to $11.7 billion.
WiseTech founder Richard White moved from 15th to 17th after his estimated wealth fell by nearly $2 billion to $8.8 billion. Some technology founders fell off the list altogether.
Mining and property remain dominant
Mining and property remain the largest sectors for Australian wealth creation.
Canva founders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht increased their wealth by $3 billion to $17.56 billion, placing them sixth. At 39 and 40, they remain the youngest Rich Listers in the top 10.
Marriage breakdowns have also reshaped the top rankings. Andrew Forrest, Australia’s second-richest person in 2023, ranked eighth this year with $15.93 billion.
Forrest was overtaken by his former wife Nicola Forrest, who ranked seventh with $17.32 billion.
Women increase representation
Female representation rose from 42 Rich Listers last year to 48 in 2026.
New entrants include White Fox founder Georgia Contos, her husband and co-founder Daniel Contos, and family, who ranked 140th with $1.3 billion.
Pamela Wall, aged 91, ranked 149th with $1.2 billion. Her late husband, Ian Wall, founded electronics company Codan, which recently doubled its share price, supported by higher gold prices and defence spending.
Hannah Tattersall, Rich List editor, said: “Along with the incredible fortunes amassed by Australia’s entrepreneurs are the stories of how they built their wealth and where their ideas came from.
“Mining, property and tech always dominate the Rich List but this year’s list shows there’s money to be made in waste management, in chicken restaurants, in hoodies and of course AI.”
Top 10 Rich Listers
The top 10 are worth a collective $215.80 billion.
- Gina Rinehart – $39.01 billion – Mining
- Harry Triguboff – $32.29 billion – Property
- Anthony Pratt and family – $25.19 billion – Manufacturing
- Ivan Glasenberg – $22.38 billion – Mining
- Clive Palmer – $19.56 billion – Mining
- Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht – $17.56 billion – Technology
- Nicola Forrest – $17.32 billion – Mining
- Andrew Forrest – $15.93 billion – Mining
- Michael Dorrell – $13.82 billion – Investment
- Mario, Marcello and Adrian Verrocchi – $12.76 billion – Retail
NSW is home to the largest number of Rich Listers, with 78 people based in the state. Victoria follows with 52, ahead of Queensland with 21 and Western Australia with 19.
The full Rich List will be available on The Australian Financial Review website and in a special edition of The Australian Financial Review Magazine.
Top image: Financial Review Rich List cover