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May 13, 2009 Forbes announced their list
of the forty richest businesspeople in Australia.
The top 40 richest Australians list from
last year (which included New Zealand) had
a total net worth of $61.5 billion which
dropped to $33.7 billion in 2009. Had this
years list included New Zealand, the top
40 would have included a few Kiwis and would
have pushed the total net worth up to $40
billion. Despite losses, this year's list
had a minimum net worth of $280 million
and James Packer, this year's richest Australian,
topped the list with $3.1 billion in net
worth.
Recent
global economic fluctuations have caused
almost all of the individuals on the list
to have lost wealth in the last year.
Of the multiple billionaires on the 2008
list, only nine are left. Of these, James
Packer, CEO of Consolidated Media who
lost $2.2 billion in assets over the last
year, managed to beat out Andrew Forrest
for the top position. Last year's top
earner, mining magnate Forrest, came in
fifth this year, having lost $5 billion
over the last year (Authorities are investigating
him for supposedly misleading investors).
The remaining top five include Frank Lowy
in second, Harry Triguboff in third, and
John Gandel in fourth.
Among
Australia's top forty are eleven immigrants
and sixteen individuals over the age of
seventy. The immigrants include Gordon
Fu, a retail property owner and Denis
Jen, an Australian property investor.
Of the elders in the group, one, Len Buckeridge,
is fighting for his life. One of last
year's billionaires,
Richard Pratt, lost his battle with
cancer at the age of 74, passing his fortune
and chairmanship of the family business
to his son, Anthony, who took his father's
place on the list.
Amidst
all the loss in this year's list, there
were three individuals who gained fortune
over the last twelve months. Two of these,
however, only appeared richer since information
about their total wealth changed.
Individual
wealth was estimated base on shareholder
information, stock prices, and, in the
case of private wealth, comparisons with
public counterparts. Much of the information
used to determine wealth came from the
individuals or firms on the list.
Note: The Australian BRW
magazine's Rich 200 was published
soon after the Forbes 40 Australians and
saw Anthony Pratt in position one with
James Packer being placed in 6th position.
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