A surge in wealth for Australia’s top entrepreneurs means the Financial Review Rich List almost entirely consists of billionaires. The top 178 rankings on the 2026 Rich 200 list – almost nine out of ten Rich Listers – carry estimated fortunes of $1 billion and above.

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has topped the Rich List for the seventh consecutive year, with an estimated wealth of $39 billion, up $900 million from last year. The rich are still getting richer, with this year’s list revealing the country’s 200 largest fortunes have collectively leapt by $39 billion to a total of $707 billion. This is the 44th Rich List, first published in the Business Review Weekly magazine in 1983 when the total worth of Australia’s wealthiest people was only $4.6 billion. 

But while total wealth is up, there have been some notable falls in the technology sector as a result of the billions of dollars wiped off the value of listed software-as-a-service companies. 

Mike Cannon-Brookes has fallen from 13th ranking on the list to 22nd, losing nearly half his estimated fortune from $12.18 billion in 2025 to $6.71 billion. His Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar and wife Kim Jackson who leads Skip Capital, have dropped from 4th to 13th and seen their wealth plummet from $21.4 billion to $11.7 billion. WiseTech founder Richard White has gone from 15th to 17th after his wealth dropped by nearly $2 billion to $8.8 billion, while some tech founders have fallen off the list altogether.   

Mining and property remain the largest sectors for wealth creation. Property scion Harry Triguboff is No. 2 on the Rich List, worth an estimated $32.29 billion, up from $29.65 billion. The third wealthiest is Anthony Pratt & family with $25.19 billion, followed by former Glencore CEO (and cycling apparel brand Q36.5 investor) Ivan Glasenberg, who has seen his wealth explode from $13 billion last year to $22.38 billion in 2026. 

Mining magnate and Trumpet of Patriots frontman Clive Palmer is ranked No. 5 with an estimated wealth of $19.56 billion, while Canva founders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht have increased their wealth by $3 billion to be ranked No.6 with $17.56 billion. At aged 39 and 40 respectively, the couple remain the youngest Top 10 Rich Listers this year.      

Marriage breakdowns continue to re-shape the top Rich List rankings, with miner Andrew Forrest falling from Australia’s second-richest person in 2023 to No. 8 this year – worth $15.93 billion – overtaken by his former wife Nicola, who is ranked No. 7 at $17.32 billion. 

Michael Dorrell, who founded infrastructure investment giant Stonepeak, is ranked No. 9 worth $13.82 billion. Rounding out the Top 10 is Chemist Warehouse founders, siblings Mario, Marcello and Adrian Verrocchi worth $12.76 billion. 

This year’s Rich List is the first where artificial intelligence and data centres have truly made their mark. Among the 15 debutants on the 2026 Rich List are Swipejobs founder Katrina Leslie (No.67) who is worth $2.5 billion, Firmus co-founder Oliver Curtis (No.146) who is worth $1.25 billion and Grafana Labs co-founder Anthony Woods (No.194) who is worth $881 million. Brothers Daniel and William Roberts, former Macquarie executives who founded Iren in 2018, debut at No.200 with $853 million. All four fortunes are built on AI and data centres. 

Female representation has increased from 42 last year to 48 this year. Among the debutants are White Fox founder Georgia Contos, her husband and co-founder Daniel Contos and family (No.140) with $1.3 billion, and 91-year-old Pamela Wall, who is ranked No.149 and worth $1.2 billion. Her husband Ian Wall, who died in 2022, founded electronics company Codan, which recently doubled its share price propelled by a rise in gold prices and defence spending.

Rich List editor Hannah Tattersall said: “Along with the incredible fortunes amassed by Australia’s entrepreneurs are the stories of how they built their wealth and where their ideas came from. Mining, property and tech always dominate the Rich List but this year’s list shows there’s money to be made in waste management, in chicken restaurants, in hoodies and of course AI.”

TOP 10 (worth a collective $215.80 billion) 

1. Gina Rinehart – $39.01 billion – Mining 
2. Harry Triguboff – $32.29 billion – Property 
3. Anthony Pratt & family – $25.19 billion – Manufacturing
4. Ivan Glasenberg – $22.38 billion – Mining 
5. Clive Palmer – $19.56  billion – Mining 
6. Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht – $17.56 billion – Technology 
7. Nicola Forrest – $17.32 billion – Mining
8. Andrew Forrest – $15.93 billion – Mining 
9. Michael Dorrell – $13.82 billion – Investment 
10. Mario, Marcello & Adrian Verrocchi – $12.76 billion – Retail  

NUMBERS BY STATE AND COUNTRY (WHERE THEY ARE BASED)

1. NSW – 78 Rich Listers 
2. VIC – 52 Rich Listers 
3. QLD – 21 Rich Listers 
4. WA – 19 Rich Listers
5. SA – 5 Rich Listers
6. ACT – 0 Rich Listers
7. NT – 1 Rich Lister 
8. TAS – 2 Rich Listers

• USA 8 Rich Listers 
• NZ 2 Rich Listers 
• UK 3 Rich Listers 
• China 3 Rich Listers 
• Switzerland 1 Rich Lister
• Argentina 1 Rich Lister
• Bahamas 1 Rich Lister
• Cyprus 1 Rich Lister
• Hong Kong 1 Rich Lister
• Dubai 1 Rich Lister

NAMES MOST LIKELY TO BE A RICH LISTER
There have been 37 Johns that have appeared on the Rich List in its history; 23 Andrews and 21 Peters.  

The full Rich List will be available on www.afr.com and will appear in a special edition of The Australian Financial Review Magazine in tomorrow’s Financial Review.

Thursday 28 May, 2026