Australia’s 50 Richest 2026

Australia’s 50 Richest hits stands Monday, February 23. Tap here to secure your copy.

Amid global uncertainty unleashed by U.S. tariffs and geopolitical tensions, resource-rich Australia remained somewhat resilient. Thanks partly to a rising Australian dollar, up 9% in the past year, the country’s 50 richest added $11 billion to take their combined fortune to $254 billion.

Mining baroness Gina Rinehart, who controls privately owned Hancock Prospecting, held onto the number one spot though her net worth fell 15% to $24.6 billion as the mining giant battled lower iron ore prices and regulatory pressures. An early investor in rare earths, Rinehart increased Hancock’s stake in U.S-based MP Materials in November to 8.4%.

Real estate magnate Harry Triguboff cemented his position as the country’s second-richest person with a 20% rise in his wealth to $22.6 billion at a time when his Sydney-based Meriton Properties has increased its focus on Queensland’s Gold Coast. Mining tycoon Andrew Forrest climbed two places to No. 3, buoyed by an uptick in shares of iron ore giant Fortescue, which helped boost his net worth by $4 billion to $20.1 billion. Bullish on gold, he more than doubled his stake in miner Greatland Gold to nearly 19%.

Design software maker Canva hit a peak valuation of $42 billion in August, lifting its Sydney-based cofounders, Cliff Obrecht and Melanie Perkins, to fourth place. The husband-and-wife duo are worth a combined $15.1 billion, up by nearly a third from a year ago. Overall, 30 people on the list are wealthier this year, including mining heiress Angela Bennett, who sold a 15% stake in an iron ore project in western Australia to Japanese giant Mitsui in December for $2 billion. Her nieces Alexandra Burt and Leonie Baldock also got a boost from selling their stakes in the same project.

The three cofounders of pharmacy chain Chemist Warehouse, brothers Jack and Sam Gance and their business partner Mario Verrocchi, scaled the ranks after merging their company with ASX-listed Sigma Healthcare, which resulted in a threefold increase in their fortunes to $6.9 billion and $5.9 billion, respectively.

Notable among the 16 list members who are less well-off this year are software firm Atlassian’s cofounders, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, whose wealth dropped the most in dollar terms as intensifying competition took a toll on the company’s shares. They appear at No. 6 and No. 7, down three spots from last year with $10 billion and $9.7 billion, respectively.

Three newcomers join the ranks: Dennis Bastas, founder of health and beauty firm DBG Health, makes his debut with a $3.6 billion fortune after selling a 21% stake in August to private equity investors. Another new face is that of Bangladesh-born Robin Khuda, founder of data centre operator AirTrunk, which was acquired by global asset manager Blackstone in late 2024 at an eye-popping valuation of $16 billion. Brothers Daniel and William Roberts, cofounders of Sydney-based data centre builder, IREN, enter the list on a more than fivefold rise of the Nasdaq-listed company’s stock in the past year.

The minimum net worth to qualify increased to $1.2 billion from $975 million last year, resulting in three people dropping from the ranks.

Reporting by Matt Craig, Gloria Haraito, Jessica Tan and Hank Tucker.

All dollar values are in USD.