Source : THE AGE NEWS
We’re in the midst of a billionaire boom.
The number of Australians with wealth of $US1 billion or more has jumped by 52 per cent since 2020, new analysis says. That means we’ve added a new one every three months for the past four years.
Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person.Credit: Michael Quelch
Australian billionaire wealth climbed by more than 8 per cent or around $28 billion during 2024, according to the report by charity Oxfam. That’s roughly $3.2 million per hour, according to the report released on Monday by Oxfam.
It says Australia has 47 billionaires measured in US dollars, up from 31 in 2020.
Other wealth measures tell a similar story. A 2024 report by merchant bank UBS put the number of billionaires (also in US dollars) in Australia at 43 – up 5 per cent on the previous year.
The latest Australian Financial Review’s Rich List, which uses the lower bar of Australian dollars to gauge wealth – counted 150 Aussie billionaires in 2024. That’s a 44 per cent increase compared to the 2020 list.
Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes.Credit: Lisa Maree Williams
Miner Gina Rinehart topped the latest rankings followed by property developer Harry Triguboff (who has been on the rich list every year since 1983), tech entrepreneur Mike Cannon-Brookes (and wife Annie Cannon-Brookes) and manufacturer Anthony Pratt.
Most Australian billionaires have made their fortunes in just three industry sectors: mining, property and information technology. Oxfam estimates around 35 per cent of billionaire wealth in Australia is inherited.
Andrew Leigh, a minister in the federal government and former economics professor, who has written extensively about wealth extremes in Australia, attributes the rising number of billionaires to the strength of property and stock markets.
“If your assets are mostly drawn from stocks or property, then they’re going up faster than earnings,” he says. “We’ve also seen an increase in the superstar effect, with those who were at the top of their industries enjoying outsize gains relative to the average; that’s been a trend over the last couple of decades.”
Property developer Harry Triguboff has been on Australia’s rich list for decadesCredit: Arsineh Houspian
Calculations done by Leigh for his recent book Battlers and Billionaires. The updated story of inequality in Australia show that between 1983 and 2024, the richest 0.001 per cent of Australians increased their share of household wealth more than fivefold, from 0.7 per cent to 4.2 per cent.
“The top 20 Australians now have twice as much wealth as the bottom two million households,” he wrote.
Leigh believes there’s growing public concern about the concentration of wealth. He points to a massive increase in mentions of inequality during debate in federal parliament over the past decade as one indicator of a shift in the national mood.
“Earnings inequality is rising, wealth inequality is rising, housing inequality is rising,” he says. “So pretty much any part of the Australian economy you look at you see an increase in inequality; that, for me, suggests that this needs to be an urgent policy priority.”
Australia’s billionaire boom is part of a global trend.
UBS estimates the number of billionaires worldwide jumped 52 per cent over the past decade to 2682. Total wealth controlled by billionaires over the period has more than doubled, it says.
Oxfam’s report, Takers not Makers, says global billionaire wealth grew by $3 trillion last year, equivalent to roughly $8.4 billion a day – three times faster than in 2023.
Oxfam estimates the world’s richest 1 per cent now owns 45 per cent of all global wealth. It also predicts that the world will likely have five “trillionaires” within a decade.
The world’s richest individual, Elon Musk, is one-third of the way to that benchmark: last month Forbes estimated his wealth to be $US330 billion ($532 billion).
Oxfam Australia chief executive Lyn Morgain said billionaire wealth is too often rooted in unearned privilege and tied to intergenerational advantage. She is calling on Australia’s major parties to increase taxes on the ultrarich to help tackle inequality and bolster public services.
“As the federal election looms, it’s critical that our political leaders take bold steps to ensure the super-rich pay their fair share of taxes, so we can fund essential services like healthcare, education, and climate action—and build a fairer society for all,” she said.
