When it comes to the Australia's wealthiest, property is king.
The List: Australia’s Richest 250, published by The Weekend Australian, has chronicled the nation's wealthiest citizens, including 96 billionaires and 15 aged 40 and under with an average $1.27 billion fortune.
Topping this year's list is Visy executive chairman and owner of Pratt Industries, Anthony Pratt, who boasts a fortune of $13.14 billion, made largely from producing boxes and packaging material.
The only woman to make the top 10, Gina Rinehart, took second position with a net worth of $13.12 billion, followed by Meriton's 86-year-old owner and managing director Harry Triguboff, who has amassed a $12.31 billion property empire which now dots the Sydney, Brisbane and Gold Coast skylines.
Property dominates The List, with 68 rich-listers deriving their wealth from industries such as transport and mining before diversifying into residential and commercial property investments.
Take a look at the ten highest ranking property moguls from this year's list.
Harry Triguboff
Meriton
$12.31bn
Meriton chief Harry Triguboff has become known for his bullish approach towards Sydney and south-east Queensland, building over 75,000 residential townhouses and apartments since Meriton was formed in 1963. The company has gone on to become one of the biggest hotel and serviced apartment operators in the country.
Hui Wing Mau
Shimao Property Holdings
$8.63bn
Chairman of Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed Shimao Property Hui Wing Mau is known for residential, commercial and hotel projects throughout China. His Australian assets include office towers in Sydney’s CBD, a majority stake in the NSW meat processor Bindaree Beef Group, and 45,000 head of cattle bought from fellow rich-lister Harold Mitchell for $70 million in 2017.
John Gandel
Gandel Group
$6.22bn
John Gandel built his wealth through the sale of a share in clothing group Sussan in the 1980s. He joined his parents company as a teenager and bought Chadstone shopping centre from Myer Emporium in 1983. The centre's valuation hit the $6 billion mark earlier this year.
Lang Walker
Walker Corporation
$3.58bn
Lang Walker started his career with an earthmoving business. He now commands more than $2 billion worth of investment properties. Walker Corp is currently constructing residential and commercial projects in Sydney and Brisbane. Walk Corp currently has $2.9 billion worth of investment property on its balance sheet, about $1.9 billion of which is completed projects as well as a pipeline of $25 billion worth of property projects expected over the next 15 years.
Maurice Alter
Pacific Group
$2.61bn
Maurice Alter's business, Pacific Group, owns a large portion of malls mostly in Melbourne and Adelaide and co-owns the Coles Group headquarters in Melbourne. Alter’s wealth has been given a considerable boost in recent years with the sales of 50 per cent of the Werribee Plaza Shopping Centre in Melbourne for $651 million to QIC Global Real Estate in 2018 and 50 per cent of the Pacific Epping Shopping Centre for $373 million.
Marc Besen
TarraWarra
$2.51bn
Bensen and brother-in-law and fellow rich-lister John Gandel built women’s fashion empire Sussan. The Besen family fortune was boosted last in 2017 when they offloaded a quarter stake in one of Australia's largest malls, the Highpoint Shopping Centre in Melbourne's west, for $680 million.
Greg Goodman
Goodman Group
$2.29bn
Goodman Group, one of the biggest industrial property companies in the world, holds a strong portfolio of industrial and commercial assets. The Goodman family also has agriculture, residential property and technology investments.
Greg Farrell
Federal Group
$2.06bn
Farrell is head of the family business Federal Group, which controls tourism, hospitality, retail and gambling assets in Tasmania. The group’s assets include Wrest Point Casino in Hobart, the luxury Saffire Freycinet and Henry Jones Art Hotel, and a monopoly over poker machines in the island state.
Bob Ell
Leda Holdings
$1.86bn
Ell established his property development business Leda Holdings in 1976 and has gone on to oversee projects worth billions of dollars in Queensland and NSW. Leda owns commercial and industrial properties in Sydney, and shopping centres in Queensland and the ACT, and has big land holdings.
Gordon Fu
YFG Shopping Centres
$1.7bn
Fu still presides over one of the biggest privately held retail portfolios in the country. YFG’s assets include the $271 million Australia Fair on the Gold Coast and the $250 million Brookside Shopping Centre in Brisbane’s north.
