- Top 100 Young Rich Listers aged 40 or under worth a collective $41.3 billion, up $100 million from last year
- Canva co-founders Melanie Perkins and Clive Obrecht are #1 and #2 on the Young Rich List worth $16.5b
- For the first time ever, the Young Rich List lifts the lid on the opaque world of cryptocurrency to discover the big winners, including Kain Warwick, founder of trading platform Synthetix, and worth $879 million (#7 on the List)
- Social media influencers are breaking into the Young Rich List in record numbers, especially those focusing on health and wellness. Nutritionist and blogger Jessica Sepel’s vitamin range has fuelled a $426 million fortune that she shares with her business partner and husband Dean Steingold (#24 & #25) while swimwear influencer Natasha Oakley is worth $63 million (#71), Gold Coast fitness star Tammy Hembrow is worth $38 million (# 96), and Stephanie Miller is worth $36 million (#100)
- There is a record 15 women on the 2021 Young Rich List, up from 12 last year.
Canva co-founders Melanie Perkins and Clive Obrecht have topped the Financial Review 2021 Young Rich List for the first time, with a wealth of $16.5 billion.
With more than 60 million people now using Canva’s beginner-friendly graphic design software, Perkins, 34, and her husband Cliff, 35, were last year worth $3.43 billion. But with their company now valued at $55 billion the couple’s wealth has skyrocketed.
The 2021 Financial Review Young Rich List reveals the diverse ways that next generation entrepreneurs are building their fortunes. This year’s list features everything from a Mexican restaurant chain to virtual gaming, online retail tech, the cryptocurrency boom, and health and wellness social media influencers. The 100 wealthiest Australians aged 40 or under in 2021 have a collective worth of $41.3 billion, up $100 million from last year.
“This year’s list is the first since 2007 that doesn’t include the significant wealth held by Atlassian co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar who are both too old to qualify,” said Rich List co-editor Michael Bailey. “Given their absence, it was surprising the overall wealth came in at a record $41.3 billion. It shows the depth of Australia’s technology sector and the significant wealth being created by a growing number of young entrepreneurs,” he said.
In a year that has seen the continued acceleration of technology due to the COVID-19 pandemic, tech entrepreneurs make up almost half the Young Rich List, with the creation of software driving 47 of the fortunes – including seven involved in cryptocurrency – followed by online retail (11 fortunes) and sport (10).
One inspiring story of wealth creation and philanthropy is encapsulated by Sam Prince, 38, worth $1.1 billion and #5 on the Young Rich List. In 2005, the medical student set up a Mexican restaurant to sell healthier burritos. His Zambrero restaurant chain has since grown into 220 stores globally. Prince uses his fortune to fund a medical charity aimed at Indigenous communities in the NT.
With the online retail binge continuing through NSW and Victorian lockdowns, Afterpay founder Nick Molnar remains Australia’s youngest billionaire at 31-years-old, worth $2.78b and #3 on the list.
The average age of the Young Rich List is 35. The youngest members of the list, both aged 25, are basketballer Ben Simmons worth $105 million (#57) and Ash Barty, worth $37 million (up from $28 million last year). Australia’s wealthiest Young Rich sport star is Andrew Bogut, who despite retiring is worth $116 million (#54), closely followed by Daniel Ricciardo (#55) worth $110 million.
The Financial Review Young Rich List has tracked the wealth of Australia’s wealthiest people aged 40 and under since 2003. To qualify, Young Rich Listers must not have inherited their wealth.
There are 26 debutants on the list, led by Kain Warwick at #7 and worth $879 million, who is at the cutting edge of the cryptocurrency boom. His company, Synthetix, allows crypto investors to trade derivatives based on the price of real world assets like gold.
All up, the seven cryptocurrency Young Rich Listers – Kain Warwick and his siblings Kieran (#22), Aaron (#26) and Grant (#34); brothers Daniel (#19) and William Roberts (#20); and Sergei Sergienko (#60) – are estimated to be collectively worth more than $2.5 billion.
Meanwhile the health and wellness spending boom has underwritten the success of well-known social media influencers. Blogger Jessica Sepel’s vitamin range, JSHealth Vitamins, developed with husband Dean Steingold, has seen them debut on the Young Rich List, with a wealth of $426 million (#24 & #25).
Kayla Itsines, founder of Sweat fitness app, began her business on Instagram in 2009. 13 million Instagram followers later, the 30-year-old is worth $164 million and comes in at #39. Natasha Oakley, who started blog A Bikini A Day which morphed into her own swimwear range and an Instagram following of 2.5 million followers, has also debuted onto the List at #71 and is worth an estimated $63 million. Tammy Hembrow, who has more than 13 million Instagram followers and is behind fitness app Tammy Fit is estimated to be worth $38 million (#96). Stephanie Miller, better known as Steph Claire Smith, is worth an estimated $36 million fortune (#100) thanks to the success of Keep It Cleaner, which she co-founded.
“There is a record number of women on this year’s Young Rich List, with many of them carving our fortunes from a boom in health and wellness spending and our growing desire to look and feel good,” said Rich List co-editor Julie-anne Sprague.
“We are seeing an increasing number of businesses being developed by women who are harnessing their strong social media following to create enviable launchpads for their business interests,” she said.
The Financial Review Young Rich List 2021 Highlights
TOP 10 (worth a collective $26.98 billion)
1&2 Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht,34 & 35, $16.5 billion (up from $3.43b) – Canva
3 Nicholas Molnar, 31, $2.78 billion (up from $2.22b) – Afterpay
4 Laurence Escalante, 40, $2.68 billion (up from $919 million) – Virtual Gaming Worlds
5 Sam Prince, 38, $1.1 billion (up from $381 million) – Zambrero Mexican restaurant & healthcare
6 Fung Lam, 40, $1.02 billion (up from $273 million) – Online retail
7 Kain Warwick, 40, $879 million (debutant) – Synthetix & cryptocurrency
8 Owen Kerr, 37, $728 million (up from $617 million) – Pepperstone Financial Services
9 Cyan Ta’eed, 40, $664 million (up from $566 million) – Envato & technology
10 & 11 Tah-nee & Simon Beard, 33 & 37, $626 million (debutant) – Culture Kings
ENTERTAINMENT/PUBLIC FIGURES
- Miranda Kerr, 38, $124 million (up from $120m)– Manufacturing/Retail (#52 on YRL)
- Chris Hemsworth, 38, $105 million (up from $90m) – Arts (#56)
- Jennifer Hawkins, 37, $72 million (up from $60m) – Manufacturing/Retail (#68)
- Margot Robbie, 31, $62 million (up from $55m) – Arts (#72)
SPORT
- Andrew Bogut, 36, $116 million (#54) – Retired basketballer
- Daniel Ricciardo, 32, $110 million (#55) – F1 driver
- Ben Simmons, 25, $105 million (#57) – Basketballer
- Jason Day, 34, $88 million (#62) – Golfer
- Steve Smith, 32, $53 million (#78) – Cricketer
TOP 5 WOMEN RICH LISTERS
- Melanie Perkins (#1) – $16.5 billion
- Cyan Ta’eed (#9) – $664 million
- Tah-nee Beard (#10) – $626 million (with husband Simon Beard)
- Jessica Sepel (#24) – $426 million (with husband Dean Steingold)
- Emma Gibson (#36) – $190 million (with partner Robert Bates)
The Financial Review Young Rich List is available on www.afr.com from Friday, October 29. The Young Rich List also appears in a special edition of AFR Magazine, featuring profiles and analysis of the trends that are making the Young Rich even richer, which is inside this Friday’s Financial Review newspaper.
For media enquiries:
Adrian Motte
Communications Manager, Nine
amotte@nine.com.au
Thursday, October 28, 2021
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