The Top 10 Richest People in Australia and New Zealand

In their annual list of the Top 40 richest people down under, Forbes Magazine declared Andrew Forrest the wealthiest of them all, while New Zealand’s richest businessman, Graeme Hart came in at Number 2.

Since I couldn’t list them all, here are the Top 10 richest people in Australia and New Zealand.

10. Stanley Perron
Country: Australia
Age: 85
Net worth: $1.8 billion
In 1962, Perron was given Toyota franchise rights which he said he tried very hard to get rid of but “nobody wanted it”. He set up dealerships in WA, and is still selling Toyotas.

9. Kerr Neilson
Country: Australia
Age: 58
Net worth: $1.9 billion
Back in 1987, Neilson was a successful fund manager at BT Australia. In 1993, he quit to set up the highly successful Platinum Asset Management

8. John Gandel
Country: Australia
Age: 73
Net worth: $2 billion
He inherited retail chain Sussan from his parents, but sold that to his brother-in-law and is currently run by his niece Naomi Milgrom (No. 37 on the list). He instead made his fortune in shopping malls including a 50% stake in Chadstone, Melbourne; the largest mall in the Southern Hemisphere.

7. Richard Pratt
Country: Australia
Age: 73
Net worth: $2.1 billion
Amid a price-fixing scandal, Pratt dropped a few ranks but his company, Visy, still remains one of the world leaders in packaging and recycling.

6. Gina Rinehart
Country: Australia
Age: 54
Net worth: $2.4 billion
The richest woman on the list, she fought a tough battle with her step-mother to gain control over mining company Hancock Prospecting. The company made its first delivery in 2007, in a joint venture with mining giant Rio Tinto.

5. Harry Triguboff
Country: Australia
Age: 75
Net worth: $2.7 billion
He is the biggest builder of apartments in the country with Meriton Apartments crowding almost very major city in the country. However, in the current market, he is focusing on renting rather than selling apartments.

4. Frank Lowy
Country: Australia
Age: 77
Net worth: $4.4 billion
He arrived in Australia in 1952 and opened a deli. Today he owns Westfield, one of the largest mall operators in the world. He is also the Chairman of the Football Federation of Australia.

3. James Packer
Country: Australia
Age: 40
Net worth: $5.3 billion
He inherited Publishing & Broadcasting (PBL) from father Kerry Packer in 2005; which he then split into two public companies: Consolidated Media Holdings and the Crown casino group. He has also acquired stakes in two US casinos.

2. Graeme Hart
Country: New Zealand
Age: 52
Net worth: $5.4 billion
The only Kiwi on the Top 10 list, Hart used to be a tow truck driver at one point. Just in the last year, his Rank Group bough Swiss packager SIG, the Blue Ridge Paper Company and the packaging division of Alcoa. This not only doubled his net worth but has made the Rank Group the second largest producer of drink cartons in the world.

1. Andrew Forrest
Country: Australia
Age: 46
Net worth: $6.6 billion
Chinese demand of metals and iron ore led to a great interest in shares in the Fortescue Metals Group. The mining company owned by Forrest is enjoying great success and is the reason why Forrest jumped ten ranks to land straight into the Number 1 spot this year.

So there you go, our richest best! While most have experienced an increase in their fortunes in the past year, Richard Pratt (#7) and James Packer (#3) were the only two to have experienced a decline in their fortunes. Stanley Perron (#10) however just made it to the list with his fortune remaining the same as last year.

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