BRW magazine has released a sneak preview of Rich 200 list, and says there are now a record 39 billionaires this year.
Thanks to a climbing stockmarket – the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) is up 15%, not including dividends in the past 12 months, a hot housing market and the continued emergence of technology entrepeneurs, average wealth on the list has risen 9.5% to $968 million.
Here's the top 10…
- Gina Rinehart – estimated to be worth $20 billion, the chairman of miner Hancock Prospecting has seen $2 billion wiped off her wealth this year thanks to the falling iron ore price.
- Anthony Pratt – worth $7.6 billion, has doubled his wealth since inheriting the leadership of Visy from his late father Richard in 2009.
- James Packer – worth a cool $7.2 billion, with most of his interest now in gaming and entertainment. Much of it comes from his shareholding in Crown Limited (ASX: CWN).
- Frank Lowy – the founder of the Westfield Group (ASX: WFD) is also worth an estimated $7.2 billion, with much of his wealth held in his private investment company, rather than the listed Westfield entities.
- Ivan Glasenberg – chief executive of Swiss-based, commodity giant Glencore-Xstrata saw his wealth climb by $1 billion in the past twelve months to $6.6 billion.
- Hui Wing Mau – worth an estimated $6.4 billion, he is the chief executive of Hong Kong-based Shimao Property Holdings.
- Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest – chairman and largest shareholder in Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) is worth $5.9 billion – $2.2 billion more than a year ago.
- Harry Triguboff – The property developer, known for his large apartment buildings, is worth $5.5 billion thanks in part to the surging property boom.
- John Gandel – worth an estimated $4.1 billion, with his biggest asset being a half-share in the Chadstone shopping centre in Victoria. It's the largest mall in the southern hemisphere.
- Kerr Neilson – co-founder and majority shareholder in fund manager, Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX: PTM) is worth $3.35 billion.
The full list of the top 200 will be released on Friday online.
