Australia’s wealthiest people revealed as total Rich List valuation balloons to nearly $350 billion

Australia’s top 200 richest people are richer, older and more tech-focused than ever before — though, they’re still mostly familiar faces.

The AFR’s Rich List has been running since 1984, and the first list’s entrants had a combined wealth of $6.4 billion. Today, the total wealth of the list is a whopping $341.8 billion, an increase of over 5,200% in 35 years.

But Australia’s richest 200 have also managed to significantly increase their wealth in just the past 12 months, with last year’s list reporting a total wealth of $282.7 billion. This increase can be in part attributed to the list now including some wealthy families, but by and large, the rich are just getting richer.

At the top of the pile, unsurprisingly, is cardboard box mogul Anthony Pratt, who’s wealth ballooned 20% this year to $15.57 billion thanks to some friendly tax policies for his US-based Pratt Industries. Next on the list is another familiar face, mining heavyweight Gina Rinehart, with a wealth of $13.81 billion.

Property kings Harry Triguboff and Hui Wing Mau followed, with $13.54 billion and $12.77 billion respectively.

And, for the first time ever, the Atlassian founder duo did not share the same spot on the rich list, with Scott Farquhar edging ahead of his friend (and neighbour) Mike Cannon-Brookes. Farquhar squeezed ahead of Cannon-Brookes by just $0.12 billion, with his total wealth coming in at $9.75 billion, likely due to some of the investments made by his investment fund Skip Capital.

The Atlassian duo weren’t the only rich tech founders on the list, however, with a record 14 technology-focused founders appearing. This includes WiseTech founder Richard White at rank 20 with $3.31 billion, Afterpay founder Nick Molnar at rank 194 with $487 million, and Envato founders Cyan and Collis Ta’eed at rank 94, with a combined wealth of $974 million.

Former chief executive and founder of autonomous vehicle startup Zoox Tim Kentley-Klay also featured highly on the list, coming in at rank 86 with a wealth of $1.1 billion. Although the founder was sacked from his job last year, he still retains a 25% stake in the company.

The list has a record 91 billionaires on it, meaning nearly half of the list is now made up of the especially wealthy, and the average wealth of entrants on the list has grown 20% to $1.70 billion.

A record 26 women also appeared on the list for the first time, however, only a couple of these are new entrants, with many joining due to their placing in rich Australian families.

See the top 10 richest Australians below, and read the full list for 2019 here.

1. Anthony Pratt, Visy — $15.57 billion

2. Gina Rinehart, Hancock Prospecting — $13.81 billion

3. Harry Triguboff, Meriton — $13.54 billion

4. Hui Wing Mau, Shimao Group — $10.39 billion

5. Scott Farquhar, Atlassian — $9.75 billion

6. Mike Cannon-Brookes, Atlassian — $9.63 billion

7. Frank Lowy, Westfield Group — $8.56 billion

8. Andrew Forrest, Fortescue Metals — $7.99 billion

9. Ivan Glasenberg, Glencore — $7.17 billion

10. John Gandel, Gandel Group — $6.6 billion

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