The Australian releases annual List of Australia’s Richest 250

The Australian has published its fourth annual edition of The List: Australia’s Richest 250 as a gloss large format magazine and on theaustralian.com.au.  

Gina Rinehart tops this year’s edition of The List, with a fortune of $32.64 billion. Joining Rinehart in the top 5 are Fortescue Metals chairman Andrew Forrest at number two, Visy executive chairman and owner of Pratt Industries, Anthony Pratt at number three, and Atlassian founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar who came in at fourth and fifth on The List.

The List is the biggest annual study of Australia’s 250 wealthiest individuals undertaken in this country, with final wealth figures calculated in mid-February 2022. The List: Australia’s Richest 250 is curated and edited by wealth expert John Stensholt and a team of researchers and journalists. 

Stensholt said: “The technology revolution is heralding a shift from ‘old’ industries such as mining and manufacturing to newer online sectors, bringing significant change to the ranks of the country’s wealthiest individuals.

“It has also helped create a record number of new names on The List. Despite the pandemic, some sectors – retail in particular – have done incredibly well and created a surge in new wealth on The List. Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht of Canva reach the top 10 for the first time as wealth surges and 29 fresh faces appear in the overall list this year.

“It’s been fun uncovering the new names coming up amongst the old guard of The List and sharing their stories.” 

Technology has well and truly impacted The List, and in recognition of this changing of the guard, The Australian is releasing a collection of non-fungible token (NFT) artworks to help raise funds for the St Vincent de Paul Society’s Flood Appeal. 

The NFT’s are tokens attached to digital artworks created by illustrator Rebel Challenger, who has a long career in media as a graphic designer and art director. She has also illustrated several children’s books. The artworks, which were commissioned especially by The List: Australia’s Richest 250, are of the top 20 richest Australians, as well as a few young guns. 

The Australian’s editor-in-chief Christopher Dore said: “Most of the top 250 wealthiest Australians are collectors, whether it be of art, supercars, or spectacular property. We hope that our NFT artworks of the top 20 Richest 250 on The List become collectable in themselves.” 

The List: Australia’s Richest 250 has this year risen to a total wealth of $520.20 billion, at an average of $2.08 billion for each of the 250 members. Included in The List are 131 billionaires, 29 newcomers, and 30 women. The average age of members is 65, with 98-year-olds Len Ainsworth (Aristocrat Leisure and Ainsworth Game Technology founder) and Marc Besen (TarraWarra) the eldest named and 32-year-old Nick Molnar (Afterpay) The List’s youngest member.  

Property continues to be the main source of wealth, with 59 of Australia’s wealthiest making their fortune from the industry with the technology sector moving up the list (29 members). Many members have also made their fortunes in industries such as investment (28 members), retail (27 members), and mining (22 members).

The List has been compiled using publicly available information. Public shareholdings are calculated on share prices up to mid-February 2022, and property values and purchase prices have been derived from several public sources. Price companies are valued using profit margins and various earnings ratios of comparable stock market listed competitors.

The List: Australia’s Richest 250 magazine is available today in The Australian and online at theaustralian.com.au/rich250.