You can never really go wrong providing the basics for the masses, and the Young Rich list proves it again. Carolyn Creswell is the richest woman on the list with a $50 million fortune based on her health food business Carman’s Fine Foods, while coffee magnate Phillip Di Bella and Crust Gourmet Pizza founders Michael Logos and Costa Anastasiadis also make the list. Clothing designers have always had a strong presence on the Young Rich and this year it is no different: there’s Ian and Paul Everest from action wear brand Unit; Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton of Sass & Bide; Bruno Schiavi of Jupi Corp and Richard Poulson and Kylie Radford of Morrison.
More than 20 members of the Young Rich live overseas, although around half of these are sportspeople or entertainers, including golfer Karrie Webb, actor Sam Worthington and motocross star Chad Reed. Of the business people on the list, the unsurprising home away from home is San Francisco, home of the tech Mecca, Silicon Valley. To steal a line from Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York – if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.
Moving earth in one form or another is at the heart of many businesses on the Young Rich. Top five members Mark Ackroyd, Ashley Fraser, and Laurence and Prue Eales lease out the heavy equipment to move earth; Jim Campbell’s business Murphy Pipe and Civil shifts dirt for big pipeline projects; and Dave Simmons’ engineering business The Simmons Group moves the earth for big projects such as Perth’s new airport terminal.
Tibra Capital isn’t quite the household name that Macquarie Bank is, but the firm’s influence on the Young Rich list is impressive. Christian King, Kinsey Cotton, Glenn Williamson, Tim Berry and Dinesh ‘Danny’ Bhandari all take their place on the list this year, with fortunes ranging from $20 million to $33 million; all up, the Tibra five are worth $138 million. The firm specialises in high-frequency trading, a controversial area of the market that is being closely watched by regulators.
Being talented in some way – on the sporting field, on the silver screen or on the stage – is still a great way to make money when you are young. A total of 13 members of the list can be classed as celebrities, with soccer player Harry Kewell leading the way with $50 million.
James Thomson is a former editor of BRW’s Rich 200 and the publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany.
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.
