August 20, 2025 • 12 mins
Australia’s richest are getting richer — with Gina Rinehart and Harry Triguboff climbing higher in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, while others like Atlassian’s founders take a hit. Together, the nation’s top ten fortunes are now worth $144 billion. So where’s the money being made and what does it say about the broader economy?
This week on the Bloomberg Australia Podcast, host Rebecca Jones speaks to wealth editor Andrew Heathcote about the winners and losers in Australia’s billionaire ranks, the sectors driving their gains, and what lessons we can take from how the ultra-wealthy think.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
While millions of people still struggle with the cost of living,
the richest Aussies are getting richer.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
What is it that drives Harry trigger Off to keep
doing this even though he's a multi billionaire and nothing
to prove.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I looked upon the business as a family. Why jeopardize
this bonanza? Why kill the geese laying the golden eggs?
Australia's richest people are getting richer. Who's climbing the list,
who's sliding down? And what does billionaire wealth in twenty
twenty five tell us about the economy we are all
(00:36):
living in. Hello, I'm Rebecca Jones and welcome to the
Bloomberg Australia Podcast. This week we're checking in on Gina,
Harry and the rest of the billionaire bunch, some so
famous and with business tentacles across so many sectors, like
the mononymous too. I just mentioned it's easy to develop
a little billionaire blindness. But together our ten richest four
(01:00):
fortunes are now worth around one hundred and forty four
billion US dollars and that's up four point six billion
this year alone. The rich are still getting richer, but
how are they doing it? Who's doing better? And who's
doing worse and what can we learn that's useful for
us about how these billionaires think. To help me answer
(01:23):
this question, I am delighted to welcome Wealth editor Andrew Heathcott,
the keeper of Bloomberg's Global Rich list, to the podcast. Andrew,
thanks for joining me.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Hi, Rebecca must be with you.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Now, Andrew. The leaderboard has had some shakeups in twenty
twenty five. Who has pulled off the biggest climb among
Australia's richest this year and on the flip side, who's
taken a hit?
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Well, there's been no runaway leader this year, but we
have seen some pretty healthy gains, particularly by those at
the top of the list. Austraya's richest person, Gina Reinhart,
is up to around twenty eight billion as of the
end of last week. As we all know, she's the
billionaire behind Hancock Prospecting, the iron Ore group that's expanded
(02:08):
into agricultural property and some other related things. The twenty
eight billion, which like all of our numbers, is in
US dollars, is enough to put her in the top
eighty people on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index Worldwide worldwide, so
she's up about three billions so far this year based
on our estimates. Another name who may be familiar to
(02:32):
people Harry Triggboff. He's the billionaire behind the Merriton Property Group.
He's up about three billion two at twenty one billion,
based on some solid growth within his apartment building business.
I guess at the other end of the scale of
the billionaires behind the US listed software company Atlasian in
(02:54):
Scott Farquah and Mike cannon Brooks. If you take Farkua,
he's down about twenty five percent year to date on
our numbers, based on a softening of the Lassian share price.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
It seems like a lot is that that commonplace?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah? Look, that's they've had some very strong growth for
a lot time, for a long time. And he still
has a fortune up around the eleven billion dollar mark,
so still doing okay. And yeah, look these sorts of
wealth figures perhaps put into context when you look at
the world's richest person in Elon Musk. On our numbers,
he's down about sixty billion so far this year, which
(03:33):
perhaps in Australian terms, is about two Gina Reinharts between
Tesla and SpaceX and all of Musk's other holdings he's
worth around three hundred and seventy five billion these days,
which is a pretty crazy number.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
So Elon Musk has lost about sixty billion dollars and
the combined fortunes of Australia's ten richest is around one
hundred and forty four billion. That's right, just a little
under half. That's incredible, It's.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
It's very The numbers are so big that they are
very hard to get your head around. Elon Musk very
much sits at the top of the list.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yeah, very dealse and so Andrew, from where you sit,
which sectors are proving more robust in twenty twenty five?
You mentioned Alassie and before. Obviously they're a tech company.
They do operate in a very sort of fast moving
environment which other industries are starting to show cracks. Is
(04:30):
there any sort of new trends that you're seeing.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
I think it's I think it's fair to say that
there's no such thing as a bulletproof sector. You know
what our data is showing us though, is that you know,
even with the global tariff disruption we've seen this year,
you know, most of the sectors favored by billionaires have
done okay. So if you look at billionaires within commodities, finance,
(04:54):
retail and technology. They are up on average on a
global basis. Look, technology, I think has been a really
interesting one as some of the biggest gains have been
by billionaires that have successfully tapped the growing market for AI.
One of the biggest rises globally has been Jensen Wong,
(05:16):
the boss of Navidia, the company that makes computer processes
that help assist with the growth of AI projects. He's
cracked the top ten now and is up over one
hundred and fifty billion. And look, there's more stories like
that to come. I'm sure it seems reasonable to expect
that AI is a sub sect or will be a
source of many new fortunes in most major markets, possibly
(05:39):
here in Australia as well.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Are we certain to see any investment from the richest
here in those sort of technologies, So that's still to come.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
I think it's something where people are trying to move
pretty quickly to take opportunities. The biggest players are overseas,
but I think we're going to see there's going to
be people that you or I have never heard of
today in five years time, I think are possibly going
to be quite big names because it is a part
of the market that's going to move very quickly.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And we'll be right back. You're listening to the Bloomberg
Australia podcast, and Dow, we know that, you know, even
the richest people in the world aren't immune to things
that sting all of us, like you know, tax changes
or twigs to trade. Dare I say, tariffs? What does
(06:28):
the data tell you about how government policies have changed
the game for our wealthiest tier in Australia this year.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Most billionaires have been around a long time. Some of
our richest people are in their nineties now. They've seen
governments come and go and different policies come in and
out of favor. I think one of the biggest benefits
of having one of the world's biggest fortunes is that
you can cope with most things that get thrown at you.
(06:58):
So billionaires tend to be pretty consistent with their strategies.
And yeah, look, I don't think that's really changed much.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
This year, Andrew. I'm interested to drill in a little
more into the split between global and local investments of
these big fish. Our billionaire is making more money overseas
these days, or is the home market still where their
biggest wins happen.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
The way billionaires approach wealth is often different to what
you or I typically told we should do with our money.
We get warned about not putting all your eggs in
the one basket. We are told to diversify if we
can manage it right. Yeah, and that's great if you
want to live a happy life, but if you want
to build one of the world's biggest fortunes, it doesn't
(07:44):
really work. So what billionaires will often do is to
keep reinvesting in the same business or the same market.
And Harry Triggerboff is a great example of this. He
started building apartments in Sydney in the nineteen sixties and
that's what he's still doing. His buildings are all up
bigger now and he's a few in Queensland. But he's
(08:04):
built one of the biggest fortunes in the country by
continuing to do the thing that he does really well,
and he's been very disciplined about not getting distracted by
other markets or unrelated opportunities. Where this tends to change
is with multi generational fortunes. So typically after a fortune
has been handed down from the founder of the main business,
(08:26):
but look from what I can tell if you want
to build a billion dollar fortune, it's best not to
look too far afield. It's much better to do a
really good job of satisfying a market that you understand
really really well.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
So on that, can you still build one of the
world's biggest fortunes from Australia, Well.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, for sure. And I guess technology makes that sort
of thing much easier than it used to be. One
of the unusual things about billionaires is that they don't
really live in places the way we do. Wealth really
opens things up in terms of global mobility. So when
you or I want to take a trip to say,
(09:09):
the US, we have to book flights and accommodation and
deal with airports, etc. But it's much easier when you
have your own top of the range private jet on standby. Yeah.
I think one of the interesting misconceptions about about that
and about that high end private jet travelers that people
think it's all about luxury and champagne and all that
good stuff. And sure, when you're paying over fifty million
(09:33):
for a jet you probably get that sort of thing
thrown in. But what private jets offer billionaires is more
around claiming back time. They can go anywhere really quickly,
and that can be a bit of a game changer
when you're talking about global billion dollar companies.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Sort of related to that, are you seeing any trends
or interesting data points that tell us how these billionaires
are impacting our nation Australia beyond the balance sheet, beyond
the dollars? Are they getting more political?
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Look, I'm not sure, but I don't think so. I
think they've always been political to some extent and always
will be. There's different strategies to that, and it can
be over done publicly or behind closed doors. But look,
I think it's safe to assume that billionaires will always
see value in impacting policy if they think they're able to.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
So Andrew to recap, there has been some movement in
the billionaire ranks in Australia this year. However, Gina Reinhart
is still top of the tree. In fact, she's among
the top eighty of the world's richest right now. The
Alassian founders, well they've taken a bit of a hit,
but they're still doing okay. Lessons that we can take
away is consistency really is key for this billionaire bunch,
(10:52):
and also focusing on what they do best doesn't hurt
to be politically inclined, and also to not think too
far into the future and be open to opportunities. But really,
at the same time, you know what your competitive advantage is. Finally,
my last question to you is who is sitting just
outside the top ten of Australia's richest Who should we
(11:15):
be keeping our eyes on.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
I think the pro Medicus billionaires have been really interesting.
Pro Medicus is a Melbourne based company that develops software
for medical practices. It's found as Sam Hupert and Anthony Hall.
They are big names. They're not perhaps famous in the
way that some billionaires are, but they are each up
(11:38):
around the five billion dollar mark based on our estimates.
And yeah, the other ones to perhaps keep an eye
on are the three Canva billionaires in Melanie Perkins, cliff
O Breckton, Cameron Adams. Canvas is a graphic design software
company and there's been talk about it having an IPO
for a while. Now. Look, if that happens, then their
(11:59):
company could be worse. I've looked more than thirty billion dollars.
That's huge on a global scale, not just in terms
of Australia. So yeah, if that FIPO happens, we'd expect
to have quite an impact.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Interesting stuff. And look, if the name Rebecca Jones ever
cracks the top ten, suffice to say, Andrew, you're going
to be looking at my empty seat in our row
in the bureau. Andrew, thanks for the chat.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Thanks Beck.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
If you found today's conversation insightful, be sure to follow
the Bloomberg Australia Podcast wherever you listen, and check for
more on the gains, losses and powerplays shaping the fortunes
of Australia's billionaires, including the latest reporting from Andrew Heathcare
on Bloomberg dot Com. Today's episode was recorded on the
traditional lands of the Wilungery People. It was produced by
(12:44):
Paul Allen and edited by Ainslin Chandler and Chris Burke.
I'm Rebecca Jones and I'll see you next week.
While millions of people still struggle with the cost of living,
the richest Aussies are getting richer.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
What is it that drives Harry trigger Off to keep
doing this even though he's a multi billionaire and nothing
to prove.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I looked upon the business as a family. Why jeopardize
this bonanza? Why kill the geese laying the golden eggs?
Australia's richest people are getting richer. Who's climbing the list,
who's sliding down? And what does billionaire wealth in twenty
twenty five tell us about the economy we are all
(00:36):
living in. Hello, I'm Rebecca Jones and welcome to the
Bloomberg Australia Podcast. This week we're checking in on Gina,
Harry and the rest of the billionaire bunch, some so
famous and with business tentacles across so many sectors, like
the mononymous too. I just mentioned it's easy to develop
a little billionaire blindness. But together our ten richest four
(01:00):
fortunes are now worth around one hundred and forty four
billion US dollars and that's up four point six billion
this year alone. The rich are still getting richer, but
how are they doing it? Who's doing better? And who's
doing worse and what can we learn that's useful for
us about how these billionaires think. To help me answer
(01:23):
this question, I am delighted to welcome Wealth editor Andrew Heathcott,
the keeper of Bloomberg's Global Rich list, to the podcast. Andrew,
thanks for joining me.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Hi, Rebecca must be with you.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Now, Andrew. The leaderboard has had some shakeups in twenty
twenty five. Who has pulled off the biggest climb among
Australia's richest this year and on the flip side, who's
taken a hit?
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Well, there's been no runaway leader this year, but we
have seen some pretty healthy gains, particularly by those at
the top of the list. Austraya's richest person, Gina Reinhart,
is up to around twenty eight billion as of the
end of last week. As we all know, she's the
billionaire behind Hancock Prospecting, the iron Ore group that's expanded
(02:08):
into agricultural property and some other related things. The twenty
eight billion, which like all of our numbers, is in
US dollars, is enough to put her in the top
eighty people on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index Worldwide worldwide, so
she's up about three billions so far this year based
on our estimates. Another name who may be familiar to
(02:32):
people Harry Triggboff. He's the billionaire behind the Merriton Property Group.
He's up about three billion two at twenty one billion,
based on some solid growth within his apartment building business.
I guess at the other end of the scale of
the billionaires behind the US listed software company Atlasian in
(02:54):
Scott Farquah and Mike cannon Brooks. If you take Farkua,
he's down about twenty five percent year to date on
our numbers, based on a softening of the Lassian share price.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
It seems like a lot is that that commonplace?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah? Look, that's they've had some very strong growth for
a lot time, for a long time. And he still
has a fortune up around the eleven billion dollar mark,
so still doing okay. And yeah, look these sorts of
wealth figures perhaps put into context when you look at
the world's richest person in Elon Musk. On our numbers,
he's down about sixty billion so far this year, which
(03:33):
perhaps in Australian terms, is about two Gina Reinharts between
Tesla and SpaceX and all of Musk's other holdings he's
worth around three hundred and seventy five billion these days,
which is a pretty crazy number.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
So Elon Musk has lost about sixty billion dollars and
the combined fortunes of Australia's ten richest is around one
hundred and forty four billion. That's right, just a little
under half. That's incredible, It's.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
It's very The numbers are so big that they are
very hard to get your head around. Elon Musk very
much sits at the top of the list.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yeah, very dealse and so Andrew, from where you sit,
which sectors are proving more robust in twenty twenty five?
You mentioned Alassie and before. Obviously they're a tech company.
They do operate in a very sort of fast moving
environment which other industries are starting to show cracks. Is
(04:30):
there any sort of new trends that you're seeing.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
I think it's I think it's fair to say that
there's no such thing as a bulletproof sector. You know
what our data is showing us though, is that you know,
even with the global tariff disruption we've seen this year,
you know, most of the sectors favored by billionaires have
done okay. So if you look at billionaires within commodities, finance,
(04:54):
retail and technology. They are up on average on a
global basis. Look, technology, I think has been a really
interesting one as some of the biggest gains have been
by billionaires that have successfully tapped the growing market for AI.
One of the biggest rises globally has been Jensen Wong,
(05:16):
the boss of Navidia, the company that makes computer processes
that help assist with the growth of AI projects. He's
cracked the top ten now and is up over one
hundred and fifty billion. And look, there's more stories like
that to come. I'm sure it seems reasonable to expect
that AI is a sub sect or will be a
source of many new fortunes in most major markets, possibly
(05:39):
here in Australia as well.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Are we certain to see any investment from the richest
here in those sort of technologies, So that's still to come.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
I think it's something where people are trying to move
pretty quickly to take opportunities. The biggest players are overseas,
but I think we're going to see there's going to
be people that you or I have never heard of
today in five years time, I think are possibly going
to be quite big names because it is a part
of the market that's going to move very quickly.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And we'll be right back. You're listening to the Bloomberg
Australia podcast, and Dow, we know that, you know, even
the richest people in the world aren't immune to things
that sting all of us, like you know, tax changes
or twigs to trade. Dare I say, tariffs? What does
(06:28):
the data tell you about how government policies have changed
the game for our wealthiest tier in Australia this year.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Most billionaires have been around a long time. Some of
our richest people are in their nineties now. They've seen
governments come and go and different policies come in and
out of favor. I think one of the biggest benefits
of having one of the world's biggest fortunes is that
you can cope with most things that get thrown at you.
(06:58):
So billionaires tend to be pretty consistent with their strategies.
And yeah, look, I don't think that's really changed much.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
This year, Andrew. I'm interested to drill in a little
more into the split between global and local investments of
these big fish. Our billionaire is making more money overseas
these days, or is the home market still where their
biggest wins happen.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
The way billionaires approach wealth is often different to what
you or I typically told we should do with our money.
We get warned about not putting all your eggs in
the one basket. We are told to diversify if we
can manage it right. Yeah, and that's great if you
want to live a happy life, but if you want
to build one of the world's biggest fortunes, it doesn't
(07:44):
really work. So what billionaires will often do is to
keep reinvesting in the same business or the same market.
And Harry Triggerboff is a great example of this. He
started building apartments in Sydney in the nineteen sixties and
that's what he's still doing. His buildings are all up
bigger now and he's a few in Queensland. But he's
(08:04):
built one of the biggest fortunes in the country by
continuing to do the thing that he does really well,
and he's been very disciplined about not getting distracted by
other markets or unrelated opportunities. Where this tends to change
is with multi generational fortunes. So typically after a fortune
has been handed down from the founder of the main business,
(08:26):
but look from what I can tell if you want
to build a billion dollar fortune, it's best not to
look too far afield. It's much better to do a
really good job of satisfying a market that you understand
really really well.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
So on that, can you still build one of the
world's biggest fortunes from Australia, Well.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, for sure. And I guess technology makes that sort
of thing much easier than it used to be. One
of the unusual things about billionaires is that they don't
really live in places the way we do. Wealth really
opens things up in terms of global mobility. So when
you or I want to take a trip to say,
(09:09):
the US, we have to book flights and accommodation and
deal with airports, etc. But it's much easier when you
have your own top of the range private jet on standby. Yeah.
I think one of the interesting misconceptions about about that
and about that high end private jet travelers that people
think it's all about luxury and champagne and all that
good stuff. And sure, when you're paying over fifty million
(09:33):
for a jet you probably get that sort of thing
thrown in. But what private jets offer billionaires is more
around claiming back time. They can go anywhere really quickly,
and that can be a bit of a game changer
when you're talking about global billion dollar companies.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Sort of related to that, are you seeing any trends
or interesting data points that tell us how these billionaires
are impacting our nation Australia beyond the balance sheet, beyond
the dollars? Are they getting more political?
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Look, I'm not sure, but I don't think so. I
think they've always been political to some extent and always
will be. There's different strategies to that, and it can
be over done publicly or behind closed doors. But look,
I think it's safe to assume that billionaires will always
see value in impacting policy if they think they're able to.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
So Andrew to recap, there has been some movement in
the billionaire ranks in Australia this year. However, Gina Reinhart
is still top of the tree. In fact, she's among
the top eighty of the world's richest right now. The
Alassian founders, well they've taken a bit of a hit,
but they're still doing okay. Lessons that we can take
away is consistency really is key for this billionaire bunch,
(10:52):
and also focusing on what they do best doesn't hurt
to be politically inclined, and also to not think too
far into the future and be open to opportunities. But really,
at the same time, you know what your competitive advantage is. Finally,
my last question to you is who is sitting just
outside the top ten of Australia's richest Who should we
(11:15):
be keeping our eyes on.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
I think the pro Medicus billionaires have been really interesting.
Pro Medicus is a Melbourne based company that develops software
for medical practices. It's found as Sam Hupert and Anthony Hall.
They are big names. They're not perhaps famous in the
way that some billionaires are, but they are each up
(11:38):
around the five billion dollar mark based on our estimates.
And yeah, the other ones to perhaps keep an eye
on are the three Canva billionaires in Melanie Perkins, cliff
O Breckton, Cameron Adams. Canvas is a graphic design software
company and there's been talk about it having an IPO
for a while. Now. Look, if that happens, then their
(11:59):
company could be worse. I've looked more than thirty billion dollars.
That's huge on a global scale, not just in terms
of Australia. So yeah, if that FIPO happens, we'd expect
to have quite an impact.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Interesting stuff. And look, if the name Rebecca Jones ever
cracks the top ten, suffice to say, Andrew, you're going
to be looking at my empty seat in our row
in the bureau. Andrew, thanks for the chat.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Thanks Beck.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
If you found today's conversation insightful, be sure to follow
the Bloomberg Australia Podcast wherever you listen, and check for
more on the gains, losses and powerplays shaping the fortunes
of Australia's billionaires, including the latest reporting from Andrew Heathcare
on Bloomberg dot Com. Today's episode was recorded on the
traditional lands of the Wilungery People. It was produced by
(12:44):
Paul Allen and edited by Ainslin Chandler and Chris Burke.
I'm Rebecca Jones and I'll see you next week.
Popular Podcasts
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.