It’s not exactly a list of the big names you often hear in the world surrounding rich listers like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, but it can’t be discounted just how rich some Aussies are. Naturally, Gina Rinehart tops the list thanks to her mining and resources ventures.
What has become clear as a result of this list is that the rich simply are getting richer despite the pandemic, maybe even because of it. The AFR put it like this last year, “Australia’s billionaires have thrived during the pandemic year.” But it just illustrates how stacked the system is against regular Australians who barely hung on during the worst economic crisis in a generation. For example, Rinehart’s and iron ore magnate, Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest (no. 2), launched a campaign against the resources profits super tax and that has certainly helped their bottom line.
This has been a trend not just in Australia, but most of the world. Last year, the richest 250 Australians’ combined wealth amounted to roughly $470 billion, this year the total has jumped to over $520 billion. That means that the average net worth of these rich listers is $2.08 billion.
So whether you want to hate or look up to these people, here are the top 10 richest people in Australia.