GINA STILL RULES RICHEST ROOST
MINING mogul Gina Rinehart retains her spot at the top of Forbes’ Aussie rich list despite falling iron ore prices cutting her wealth by $US1.8 billion to $US14.8 billion ($A20.6 billion).
Property tycoon Harry Triguboff retained the No.2 spot on the 2019 Forbes Australian top-50 Rich List with a net worth of $US9 billion, while cardboard-box kingpin Anthony Pratt stays third with $US6.8 billion, and retail tycoon Frank Lowy remains fourth with $US6.5 billion.
Forbes said the wealth of 22 Australian tycoons fell since the last list in November 2017, partly because of the Aussie dollar’s 8.7 per cent drop against the US dollar.
Ms Rinehart’s four children, led by eldest daughter Bianca, lost $US1.9 billion, or 38 per cent of their combined estimated wealth, to drop from fifth spot on the list to just outside the top 10. Only Gina Rinehart would make the international top 100 list. Based on last year’s list, she would come in at 96th spot, after being 69th in 2018.
Forbes’ international list will be released in a few months. Topping last year’s international list in March was Amazon founder Jeff Bezos with a net worth of $US122 billion.
One of the big movers in the Aussie list is Clive Palmer, who is back among the nation’s 50 richest people just three years after his Queensland Nickel company folded with debts of $300 million, causing the loss of hundreds of jobs at its Townsville refinery.
Forbes said Mr Palmer, 64, has an estimated fortune of $US1.8 billion, placing him at number 20 thanks to courtordered royalty payments from CITIC Pacific Mining’s Sino Iron project in Western Australia.