Catch of the Day debut on BRW Rich List with $240 million fortune

The founders of Smart50 entrant Catch of the Day, Gabby and Hezi Leibovich, have been revealed as being among the country’s richest people, with a fortune of $240 million, according to the latest figures from BRW.

The annual Rich List also confirms Gina Rinehart as the richest person in Australia, and well on her way to becoming the richest in the world, with her wealth skyrocketing $19 billion in the past year.

Debut members include the Leibovich brothers, along with entrepreneur Therese Rein, in a year when many former entrants have seen their rankings slip.

Gabby and Hezi Leibovich have debuted on the list with a fortune of $240 million through their online retail powerhouse Catch of the Day. The company has found runaway success in the daily deals and group buying markets, earning an $80 million investment from James Packer last year.

The deal valued the company at $200 million, while the pair expect $250 million in revenue for the current year. The business just opened a wine spin-off, as the pair move on their plan to open new ecommerce categories over time.

Packer himself saw his wealth grow from $4.16 billion to $5.21 billion.

While the total wealth of the BRW Rich 200 has risen 8.4% to $181.2 billion in 2012, many members have actually seen their wealth fall, and there are only 32 billionaires now – down from 35 last year.

Average wealth is up 8.4% to $906 million, but when Rinehart is taken out of the picture, the average has fallen 3.1%, a testament to the huge amounts of money Rinehart has reaped from the mining boom.

Rinehart’s wealth is equal to the total of the second half of the list.

Mining magnate Clive Palmer has seen his ranking drop from fifth to eighth, with his wealth falling from $5 billion to $3.85 billion.

The number of mining magnates has dropped from 28 to 22 – a sign of the trouble in commodity markets over the past year – while more than 50 of the list entrants gained their wealth from property.

Most entrants have managed to hold on to their fortunes, rather than grow them. Eighty entrants have managed to increase their fortunes, but 104 have seen them fall.

Technology sits square in the middle of the pack, with just under 10 entrants.

The second most popular industry was services, with just under 30 entrants, followed by resources and investment, with just over 20 entrants each. Biotechnology was the least popular category.

But while many members of the list have seen their wealth decline, there is also a lower than usual number of new members on the list. They include ETF Securities founder and chairman Graham Tuckwell, with a wealth of $775 million, along with Kevin Rudd’s wife Therese Rein, who holds wealth of $210 million.

Andrew Forrest has dropped to fourth place from third, with his wealth falling to $5.89 billion from $6.18 billion.

Ivan Glasenberg has retained his second place spot in the list, which he won after debuting last year, while property guru Frank Lowy has seen his wealth grow from $4.98 billion to $6.47 billion – moving him up to third place.

The average age of those on the list was 65, with only two members under the age of 40 – Nathan Tinkler, who has lost his status as a billionaire falling to $915 million, along with Hezi Leibovich.

The top five are:

1. Gina Rinehart – $29 billion, up from $10.31 billion last year.
2. Ivan Glasenberg – $7.4 billion, down from $8.8 billion.
3. Frank Lowy – $6.47 billion, up from $4.98 billion.
4. Andrew Forrest – $5.89 billion, down from $6.18 billion.
5. Anthony Pratt and family – $5.45 billion, up from $5.18 billion.

This story first appeared on SmartCompany.