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BRW Rich List Review - Richest Australians 2007 |
Like most rich lists
around the world, the Australian rich list has significantly increased over the
past year. The number of billionaires have increased and it is now much harder
to be listed as it takes a minimum of $180 million to get on the BRW Rich 200.
The
top ten richest Australians are similar to last year, with a couple notable additions.
James Packer holds on to his number one position, with Frank Lowy and Richard
Pratt also keeping their second and third positions. Andrew Forrest and Kerr Neilson
in fifth and sixth places have both had meteoric rises over the past twelve months.
Andrew Forrest of Fortescue Metals Group saw his wealth increase by $8.4
million every day over the past 12 months. Last year Forrest hadn't even made
it to the billionaires club with an estimated $810 million, but 2007 finds the
man with assets worth $3.89 billion. Just below Andrew Forrest is the South African
born Kerr Neilson. Neilson's rise to the top was even more impressive than Forrest's
rise, with a 471 percent increase for the year. Kerr Neilson increased his $443
million last year to $3.53 billion this year. His investment firm Platinum Asset
Management was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange at $5 per share and quickly
rose to $8.80 on the first day of trading.
Gina
Rinehart is edging closer to the top of the Australian rich list, coming
in at fourth place. Last year she became the first Australian female billionaire
with $1.8 billion, while this year sees her wealth more than double with an estimated
$4 billion. Rinehart inherited her iron ore business from her late father Lang
Hancock, but her father also left her with the burden of debt, a mother in law
that fought her in the courts, and a dispute that has been fought in court with
the heirs of a business partner of Lang Hancock. The Hope Downs mine development
that she is in partnership with Rio Tinto should see her march to the top of the
list continue.
The richest
man in Australia has held on to the number one spot for now, but the
Westfield Shopping Centres billionaire Frank Lowy continues to expand his business
globally and is now less than a billion dollars behind James Packer. Since the
death of his father
in 2005, James Packer has increased the $6.9 billion Packer
fortune that he inherited to an estimated $7.25 billion this year.
After taking control of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited, James has sold much
of the company's traditional media assets (which includes the channel 9 television
station) and plans to split PBL into two companies. They will include Consolidated
Media Holdings for the media assets and Crown Holdings which will include the
PBL casinos and gaming assets.
The total wealth of the richest 200 Australians
has increased to $128,600,000,000 which is a 27 percent increase from the same
time last year. The average wealth of each person has increased from $508
million in 2006 to $688 in 2007. Back in 1987 there were just two Australian
billionaires (Kerry Packer and Robert Holmes a Court), compared to the thirty
billionaires that now call Australia home. Sixty four BRW Rich 200 listings were
born outside of Australia, which says something about the multicultural makeup
of Australia.
Nineteen people debuted on the Rich 200 list with Clive
Palmer heading straight to the billionaires club after the success of his iron
ore company Mineralogy. A few other debutantes included Jan Cameron with $470
million, Gordon Martin with $440 million, Nigel Satterley with $420 million and
Andrew Abercrombie with $379 million.
Jeremy Reid of the Everest Babcock
and Brown funds management group is the youngest rich list entrant at the age
of 30 and an estimated net worth of $200 million. Roc Kirby of Village Roadshow
is the oldest with an age of 89 and assets of $325 million.
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Richest Top 10 |
Ten Richest People in Australia in 2007 according to the BRW business magazine.
(All figures in Australian Dollars)
1. James
Packer,$7.25 billion, PBL, Publishing and Broadcasting Limited
2. Frank Lowy, $6.51 billion, Westfield Shopping Centers
3.
Richard
Pratt, $5.4 billion, Visy
Industries
4. Gina
Rinehart, $4.0 billion, Hancock Prospecting
5. Andrew Forrest,
$3.89 billion, Fortescue Metals Group
6. Kerr Neilson, $3.53 billion,
Platinum Asset Management
7. Harry Triguboff, $3 billion, Meriton Apartments
8. Zhengrong Shi, $2.87 billion, Suntech Power Holdings
9. Kerry
Stokes, $2.71 billion, Seven Network (television station)
10. David
Hains and Family, $2.62 billion, Portland House Group
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