Just 12 months ago, David Teoh, the founder of internet service provider TPG, was the largely obscure boss of a junior telco.
Now he has officially arrived as one of Australia’s hottest entrepreneurs, after he made a spectacular debut on BRW’s Executive Rich list in 12th position with a fortune of $487.8 million.
Teoh, who rarely talks to the media, has seen the value of his shareholding jump 10-fold in the last 12 months as TPG has become one of the strongest players in the Australian internet sector, particularly through its acquisitions of SP Telemedia and more recently PIPE Networks.
Despite his impressive debut, Teoh remains well behind the richest person on the list, which tracks the executives of Australian companies with the most valuable shareholdings.
That title still belongs to News Corporation boss Rupert Murdoch, whose share-based wealth increased by $2.5 billion in the last 12 months to $5.96 billion.
Snapping at his heals is Fortescue Metals Group boss Andrew Forrest, who has also enjoyed a big year. His wealth jumped $4.79 billion, up from $2.37 billion last year.
Third on the list was another comeback kid, James Packer. After a year in which he has been heavily criticised for losing a large chunk of his family fortune, Packer’s wealth has jumped to $3.4 billion.
In what is perhaps another argument for tougher measures to encourage female participation at executive and board level, there are only six women on the list, led by Computershare executive Penelope Maclagan. She is the sister of the share registry company’s founder Chris Morris and owns shares worth $182.7 million.
Overall, the 200 members on the list have seen their fortunes grow by just under $15 billion to $35 billion.
The 72% increase is better than the 52% rise in the ASX 200.
The minimum entry level for the list was $9.6 million, compared with $6.4 million in 2009.
The average wealth held by the executives was $174.7 million, up from $101.7 million in 2009.
Other notable names on the list include Frank Lowy (fourth with shares with $2.16 billion), Gerry Harvey, Kerry Stokes and retail veteran Solomon Lew.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
