The latest Australian rich list features a host of property powerbrokers whose wealth has skyrocketed in the past 12 months.
This year’s list, compiled by The Australian, boasts 10 property names in the top 50, led by well-known property developer Harry Triguboff.
Triguboff is sixth on the overall rich list with $20.81 billion in assets, with the majority of his wealth coming from his company Meriton.
‘High-rise Harry’ started his career building small apartments in Sydney in the 1960s and has gone on to become one of Australia’s largest property developers.
According to Forbes, the 89-year old has built more than 75,000 apartments across Sydney in the past 60 years.
In second position (16th overall) was developer John Gandel with a wealth of $5.05 billion.
Gandel owns half of the southern hemisphere’s largest shopping mall, Chadstone, with more than 500 stores in eastern Melbourne. He made most of his wealth from the shopping malls he purchased from Myer for $37 million in the 1980s.
At three (17th overall) with a net worth of $5.03 billion is Lang Walker, the chief executive and co-founder of Walker Corp, which owns office towers, industrial estates and residential projects.
Next is Chau Chak Wing, Chairman of the Kingold Group, whose business interests span real estate, hospitality, education and banking and who has a net worth of $3.7 billion.
Kingold was established in 1989 and is one of the largest real estate developers in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.
Rounding out the top five is Greg Goodman, founder of Goodman Group with $3.52 billion.
Goodman Group was founded in the mid-1980s and has become an industrial property powerhouse, by developing state of the art logistics facilities close to the major consumer hubs.
At six, with $2.94 billion, is Chinese businessman Hui Wing Mau who chairs Shimao Property Holdings, a Hong Kong-listed real estate developer with projects in dozens of Chinese cities.
In seventh position, with $2.62 billion, Maurice Alter bought his first property in the 1950s and established Pacific Shopping Centres in 1979, which has gone on to become Melbourne-based Pacific Group.
At eight, with $2.56 billion, is John Van Lieshout who made his fortune from the Super A-Mart furniture chain. He sold it in 2006 but retained the freehold to some stores.
His wealth is now built on a large property portfolio that includes shopping malls and offices.
Ninth is Bruce Mathieson, with $2.50 billion. Mathieson is best known for his high profile pub sales. He owns 25 per cent of the country’s biggest hotel-and-pub operator, Australian Leisure & Hospitality.
Finally, with a net worth of $2.44 billion, is Marc Besen, founder of the Sussan fashion chain along with Melbourne billionaire John Gandel.
Besen also founded Melbourne’s Highpoint Shopping Centre, while his daughter Naomi Milgrom now runs Sussan Group’s 500 stores and Sportsgirl.
Overall, property was the highest money-making sector on the list, with 59 people in the top 250 making their fortunes in the property sector.
