Meet the Aussies who make up the nation’s 10 richest people

WA mining and agricultural magnate Gina Rinehart has added another $3.2 billion to her extraordinary personal wealth over the past year to extend her lead atop the list of Australia’s wealthiest people.

It is the fifth year in a row that Mrs Rinehart has topped the Australian Financial Review’s Rich List — but the first time she has cracked the $40b mark, with the newspaper estimating she is now worth a tidy $40.61b. That’s up from $37.41b last year.

Mrs Rinehart — who has continued to build on the vast Pilbara iron ore legacy left behind by her late WA resources trailblazer father Lang Hancock — has been busy over the past year amassing a stake in numerous lithium assets through her Hancock Prospecting business.

She now holds a large stake in one-time market darling Liontown Resources, Vulcan Energy and two weeks ago, along with Chilean giant SQM, officially wrapped up a joint $1.7b takeover of vaunted battery metals explorer Azure Minerals.

The deals done so far amount to pocket change compared to Mrs Rinehart’s personal holdings. But they could reap her rich rewards in years to come as prices for the key battery-making material rebound off horror lows reached late last year as global demand for electric vehicles cooled.

Mrs Rinehart remains a clear table leader over her Pilbara iron ore rival and Fortescue founder Andrew Forrest.

He has slipped from second spot on the AFR’s list to eighth after splitting from wife Nicola, who leapfrogged her ex and stormed into top 10 with an estimated fortune of $16.92b. That was marginally ahead of Mr Forrest, who was this week allegedly photographed locking lips with Moroccan Energy Minister Leila Benali in Paris, with $16.76b.

Property developer Harry Triguboff was named second — and just over $14b behind Mrs Rinehart with $26.49b, up from $23.8b last year. Ninety-one-year-old Mr Triguboff — also know as High-Rise Harry — founded property developer Meriton six decades ago. The company boasts a portfolio of 23 serviced apartments up and down the east coast.

Green energy advocate and co-founder of Atlassian Mike Cannon-Brookes, along with wife Annie, were third with a huge rise in their net worth to $24.38b, up from $19.01b thanks to a boost in the software group’s share price and an improved valuation for private investment vehicle Grok Ventures. The couple separated last year but, according to the AFR, are yet to split their assets.

Anthony Pratt and Family, which is the name behind Visy Industries — the world’s largest privately owned packaging and paper company — ranked fourth with $23.3b, down from $24.3b

Mr Cannon-Brookes’ fellow Atlassian founder Scott Farquahar also benefited from a share price bump and rose to fifth after his cash pile soared to $22.88b, up from $18.16b. Mr Farquhar stunned the market last month when he announced he would step down as CEO of Atlassian, leaving Mr Cannon-Brookes as the sole boss of the Nasdaq-listed company.

Everyone’s favourite litigant Clive Palmer, whose private flagship Mineralogy derives vast riches from WA iron ore royalties, came in sixth with a small drop in his cash pile to $22.75b, down from $23.66b.

Former Glencore boss Ivan Glasenberg was ninth with a small jump to $14.86b, up from $13.6b.

Perth-born founders of online graphic design unicorn Canva, Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht, slipped one spot to No.10 with a combined fortune of $13.62b — up from $13.18b. The company made headlines earlier this week when it launched the latest iteration of its graphic design product suite with a 90s-style hip-hop performance that led many to grimace.

The AFR said Australia’s 10 wealthiest are now worth a collective $222.6 billion, up almost $7b from last year.