This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
PROPERTY has dominated the 2022 edition of The Australian’s The List of Australia’s 250 wealthiest people, with Meriton boss Harry Triguboff coming in sixth place with a fortune of $20.81 billion.
Gina Rinehart tops the list with a $32.64 billion fortune, while fellow mining magnate Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest comes in second with $31.77 billion.
Also in the top five is Anthony Pratt, with $27.77 billion, and Atlassian co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar $26.2 billion and $25.99 billion.
Triguboff comes in highest of those whose main game is property. There are 59 from the property industry in the 250, making it the highest money-making sector. Next are technology (29), investment (28) retail (27), manufacturing (14) healthcare (13), financial services.
Naturally, property is a consistent presence throughout the list. Rinehart has been busy selling down a $300 million portfolio of agricultural properties, while her Hancock Agriculture has made its first dedicated cropping country purchase with the circa $28 million acquisition of Warra Warra in Wueensland’s Western Downs.
Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar
Forrest has snapped up two Western Australia cattle stations in the past month for over $100 million, while through his investment firm Tattarang has made a string of lifestyle acquisitions over the past few months.
Atlassian is plotting its $1.5 billion headquarters in Sydney’s emerging Tech Central precinct, and on which it has brought in ASX-listed heavy-hitter Dexus to fund, develop and invest.
As for Triguboff, among his Meriton empire’s plans are a 30-storey, 211-apartment tower in Sydney’s Epping, which will take the place of an empty three level office building, and a Surfers Paradise dual-tower project rising 70 and 50 storeys with a total of 637 apartments.
It is also gearing up for its first project in Melbourne, which will be a Meriton Suites apartment hotel in the CBD.
The total wealth on the 2022 edition of The List is a combined $520.20 billion, up from $470.07 billion last year. The average wealth on The List is $2.08 billion, increasing from $1.88 billion, and there are 131 billionaires.
The most popular suburbs on the list are Melbourne’s Toorak (20), inner eastern Sydney’s Point Piper (12) and Vaucluse (11), and Perth’s Mosman Park (six). NSW can claim the highest number of people from the list with 98 residents, while Victoria has 71, Queensland 32, Western Australia 21, South Australia five, Northern Territory two, and Tasmania and the ACT one each. There are 19 living overseas.
“The technology revolution is heralding a shift from ‘old’ industries such as mining and manufacturing to newer online sectors, bringing significant change to the ranks of the country’s wealthiest individuals,” said John Stensholt, editor of The List.
There are a record 29 debutants on the list.
“Despite the pandemic, some sectors – retail in particular – have done incredibly well and created a surge in new wealth on The List,” Stensholt said.
Thriving through the hit the hospitality industry has taken during the pandemic is pub baron Justin Hemmes, who increased his wealth from $1.24 billion in 2021 to $1.31 billion in 2022. He has been actively collecting new sites and venues for his Merivale Group hospitality empire, having just expanded further in the South Coast this month, to go with purchases in Byron Bay, in Melbourne’s CBD and in regional Victoria.
