$1.3bn: It’s one Ell of a fortune
BILLIONAIRE developer Bob Ell is the richest Gold Coaster to make it on to Forbes list of world billionaires.
Mr Ell is ranked 1567 with a $US1.3 billion fortune thanks to his property portfolio.
The Budds Beach resident – he owns five properties in the sought-after enclave – debuted on the Forbes list in 2013 with $0.96 billion.
A former carpenter, Mr Ell has spent 40 years in charge of the prolific Leda Group.
He has undertaken a swag of residential, commercial, retail and industrial projects.
Mr Ell splits his time between Sydney and the Gold Coast, where he has major developments at Pimpama and in the Tweed.
He is responsible for the giant Cobaki estate near Gold Coast Airport. He also holds the Kings Forest estate site on the Tweed coast.
Overall, the total number of billionaires jumped by 233 to a record 2043 while their combined fortunes swelled by nearly a fifth to a record $US7.67 trillion. Forbes said out of the 227 women on the list, Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart had enjoyed the best year after her fortune nearly doubled, pushing her up the rankings to 69th spot from 127th.
“Unlike all the other women ahead of her, Rinehart also has bragging rights for actively building her fortune,” Forbes said.
Just four other women were among the 33 Australians on the list, including sisters Fiona Geminder and Heloise Waislitz who hold large stakes in their family’s packaging business Visy.
Seven Network founder Kerry Stokes returned to the list after a surge in the value of his shares in Seven Group Holdings. He ranked 1161 with $US1.8 billion.
News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch, who wasn’t included in the list of Australian billionaires because he holds US citizenship, took out 90th spot on the overall list with a $US13.1 billion fortune, up by about $US2 billion on a year ago.
Meanwhile, casino tycoon James Packer had about half a billion dollars sliced off his fortune while Mike Cannon- Brookes and Scott Farquhar – the 37-year-old co-founders of software group Atlassian – were the youngest Aussies on the list. Nearly a fifth of the 33 Australian billionaires were aged over 70, including Westfield founder Frank Lowy and Linfox boss Lindsay Fox.