In the billionaire Olympics, Australia’s contestants fell short of the gains made by their tech-focused US peers, but our 50 richest still managed to grow their wealth last year by a respectable 11 per cent to $US254 billion ($358.6 billion).
None can compete with the likes of Elon Musk, who is in the running to become the world’s first trillionaire, or other US tech bros whose wealth can fluctuate by billions of dollars in a day of volatile markets.
But Forbes, which publishes the billionaire rankings, contends that Australia is notable for billionaire resilience – with only three of our uber-rich being replaced in the latest line-up.
To the extent that one could use loser as an adjective to describe a billionaire, our local tech bros Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar have that dubious honour. They experienced the largest decline in financial fortunes last year – each dropping by $US8 billion and three ranking spots.
These blokes’ bank accounts have been feeling the heat as their software business Atlassian, like many others, has felt the squeeze from the rise of artificial intelligence, which investors fear will ultimately render some software products redundant. Atlassian’s shares slumped around 35 per cent in 2025 and another 37 per cent in the past month.
Despite their troubles both still held their wealth at around US$10 billion.
Even this year’s billionaire first place-getter, Gina Rinehart, experienced a trimming in her fortune which dropped 15 per cent to US$24.6 billion from US$29 billion. Rinehart’s wealth was hit by a skittish iron ore price that dipped to about US$93 a tonne during the year but has since recovered some ground and appears to be stabilising around US$100 to $US105.
The fortunes of Rinehart – the No.1 Australian ticket holder in the Donald Trump fan club – could be positively impacted this year by her renewed interest in rare earths. Her 8 per cent stake in producer Mp Materials – considered strategically important by the US government and the Pentagon – is already up 14 per cent this year (after a 114 per cent gain last year).
Another iron ore billionaire Andrew Forrest, however, managed to increase his family fortune last year thanks to a strong stock market showing by the company he controls, Fortescue.
The Forrest family maintained third position with a combined $US20.1 billion – however the wealth is now split between Andrew and his estranged wife, Nicola.
This year’s list contained the rump of regulars from real estate, including Harry Triguboff in second place and John Gandel, Bob Ell from the Leda Group, and Frank Lowy.
The list also contains a liberal smattering of showings from the retail and fashion sector – with stalwarts including Solomon Lew, Chemist Warehouse founders Jack and Sam Gance and Mario Verrocchi, the Wilson family of bathroom and plumbing company Reece, Gerry Harvey, and Brett Blundy.
Regardless of the troubles of the Atlassian founders, the Australian technology billionaires are making an increasingly large splash among the billionaire line-up.
Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht co-founded Canva and are the most recognisable names associated with the tech design and publishing software company, which is currently valued at US$42 billion. This husband and wife team is worth a combined US$15.1 billion, and the company’s other founder, Cameron Adams, notched up 20th place on the list with $US3.75 billion.
But it was the year for those investing in AI data centres to take the stage. Airtrunk’s Robin Khuda made his first appearance on the list with a $US2 billion showing, and Daniel and William Roberts made their debut with $US1.7 billion thanks to co-founding American data centre group IREN.
Richard White – founder of WiseTech – experienced his own personal relationship scandal last year which bled into the company’s share price performance and shaved US$4.4 billion off his personal fortune.
That said, 10 of our 50 billionaires are now from the technology sector, and the trend suggests this number will continue to grow over time.
And the old property, minerals and manufacturing family fortunes that have been the mainstay of the billionaires list will be dispersed among future generations – half this year’s list is composed of billionaires over the age of 70.
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