391. Tony and Christina Quinn, £246 million
The Scottish-born Quinns emigrated to Australia in 1980.
The Quinns established chilled pet food producer VIP Pet Foods, which was sold to private equity in 2011 for about $400 million.
More recently, the Quinn family saved much-loved Australian chocolate company Darrell Lea.
At the time, a Quinn family spokesperson told SmartCompany the price paid for Darrell Lea was confidential but that the Quinns were attracted by the opportunity to buy an iconic Australian brand.
“The Quinn family have long held an interest in entering the Australian confectionery market, with the acquisition of Darrell Lea that interest become a reality, allowing the Quinn Family to purchase an iconic Australian brand and compete against market leading brands such as Cadbury, Nestle and Mars,” said the spokesperson.
405. Danny Hill, £233 million
Monaco-based Hill, 71, left Belfast for Australia after school and built a £215 million fortune in property, mining and investments. According to the Times list, much of his wealth comes from providing housing in Queensland.
458. Bill Patterson, £200 million
Scottish-born engineer Bill Patterson – a co-founder of WorleyParsons who went off to run his own engineering consultancy in Sydney – ranks at equal 458th place, down on 275th place in 2013, but still up an improvement on the 327 place in the 2012 list. His fortune dropped £108 million to £200 million.
504. Frank Timis, £180 million
Frank Timis sits in equal 504th place on the latest Sunday Times Richest 1000 list. Timis fled Romania for Australia in 1980. The Timis Corporation has a portfolio of mining, petroleum and agricultural businesses. Timis is listed as worth £180 million, down £620 million on the £800 million which had him in110th place last year.
739. Seumas Dawes, £124 million
London-based Australian merchant banker Seumas Dawes made his fortune at fund manager Ashmore group. He sits in equal 739th place with £124 million on the latest Sunday Times list.
806. Maureen and Tony Wheeler
Lonely Planet founders and philanthropists Maureen and Tony Wheeler appear in the London list despite being based in Australia.
The pair have held firm with a £112 million net worth, which places them equal 806th place in latest Sunday Times 1000 Rich List, down from 709th in the 2013 list.
Belfast-born Maureen and her husband Tony sold their Melbourne-based Lonely Planet publishing empire for £131 million. The Wheelers started Lonely Planet after selling 1500 copies of their first book, Across Asia on the Cheap, which arose from their honeymoon trip.
Cara Waters is a former SmartCompany editor. Previously, Cara was a senior reporter for the Financial Times’ website and worked for The Sunday Times in London.
