Moshal and Morris make their debut: The 100 richest young people in Australia revealed
Atlassian’s founders have topped the list of the richest young Australians, but there are also a variety of new faces that have made the cut.
Finance and fintech entrepreneurs have taken the list of Australia’s 100 richest self-made young people by storm this year, accounting for more than a third of newcomers, while a number of debutants from last year have held their spots.
Released in full today, the 2018 Australian Financial Review Young Rich List is headlined by Atlassian founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, but a host of other founders have also made the cut.
Last year’s debutants Vinomofo co-founder Justin Dry and Showpo chief Jane Lu made the list for the second time, while Adore Beauty founder Kate Morris and husband James Height made their debut, ranked 87th with an estimated wealth of $30 million
Earlier this week Morris decided to take advantage of her company’s strong financial position by doubling the domestic violence leave available to her employees.
Morris makes up one of just 10 women on the rich list though, once again revealing a stark gender disparity among the most wealthy young people in Australia.
Finance and fintech entrepreneurs dominated the new entrants though, accounting for more than a third of the 21 newcomers.
Greg Moshal, co-founder of small business lender Prospa, made his debut, ranked 27th with an estimated wealth of $101 million.
Small business lender Prospa had to delay IPO plans amid regulatory scrutiny over its contract terms earlier this year, but the business has benefitted from ongoing difficulty among SMEs to access traditional bank loans.
The explosive growth of buy-now-pay-later business Afterpay Touch Group saw chief executive Nick Molnar jump eight places from last year to rank 15th, valued at $341 million.
Koala Mattresses founders Dany Milham and Mitch Taylor rank 42th and 43th respectively, on the back of continued growth in mattress-in-a-box sales, with an estimated $61 million in wealth each.
The Koala duo has been building on the initial success of their mattress business recently, branching out into bed frames, sheets and pillows.
Further down is Vinomofo co-founder Justin Dry, ranked 70th with an estimated net worth of $34 million.
The online wine retailer has been expanding overseas at a breakneck pace, recently moving into the US market. Although Dry’s co-founder Andrew Eikmeier stepped down from his role as co-chief executive in September.
Showpo founder Jane Lu admitted earlier this year her company was in a “rut” after a few business mistakes and technical issues, but she’s still made the list at rank 72 with an estimated wealth of $33 million.
Despite the setbacks, Showpo is still growing and recently opened a new warehouse to accommodate its increasing customer numbers.
Rounding out the list, Mydeal.com.au founder Sean Senvirtne, ranked 92th with $29 million in wealth as his marketplace business continues to make waves in an increasingly crowded space.
Senvirtne has been looking to set his business apart from the crowd, launching a flash sale event earlier this year called “Australia’s Night Online” to capitalise on the success of phenomena such as ‘Click Frenzy’ and ‘cyber Monday’.
The average age of those on the list this year is 35, although the 12 20-somethings outnumber the 11 40-year-olds.
The youngest person on the list is 22-year-old programmer Nick D’Aloisio, worth an estimated $29 million on the back of his business Summly.
The 10 richest self-made Australians under 40 in 2018:
1 & 2. Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar | Atlassian | $7.1 billion each
3. Tim Gurner | Gurner | $631 million
4. Ori Allon | Compass | $539 million
5 & 6. Kayla Itsines & Tobi Pearce | Sweat | $486 million combined
7. Owen Kerr | Pepperstone | $460 million
8 & 9. Collis & Cyan Ta’eed | Envato | $428 million combined
10. Peter Greensill | Greensill Farming | $412 million
