Billioniare Harry Triguboff again highlights property pathway onto AFR Rich List

The Meriton founder Harry Triguboff once again leads the strong property industry presence amid the 200 individuals and families on the 2021 AFR Rich List. But iron ore was the winner when for the second year Gina Rinehart was at No.1 with her $31 billion fortune up from $28.9 billion in the 2020 list published last November, followed again by Andrew Forrest with $27.2 billion, up from $23 billion last time. Ofcourse the record iron ore prices face pressure from lower-cost supplier countries. The publication predicts Australia’s technology billionaires may soon top the Rich List with Atlassian founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar seeing their fortune pass $20 billion for the first time. The latest list of real estate billionaires saw some impacted adversely by the pandemic especially those concentrated on city hotels, such as Bob Magid. Meriton founder Harry Triguboff edged higher to take sixth spot on the list. The Rich List calculated Triguboff's wealth at $17.27 billion It noted profits fell at Triguboff’s Meriton Properties in fiscal 2020, to just $19.4 million from $356 million a year earlier, as the pandemic paused unit sales and hit the serviced apartment business. The carrying value Meriton ascribes to its assets exceeded $17 billion for the first time. His latest acquisition came in May when he paid $75 million for a Gold Coast apartment development site. Back in October 2020, The Australian Financial Review assessed Triguboff as the seventh richest Australian by net worth, estimated at A$14.42 billion, There are 69 individuals or families on the list whose major wealth is credited to property. Property billionionares took eighth and ninth spot on the latest list with Hui Wing Mau at $11.70 billion after the share price and profits at the Hong Kong-listed Shimao Property Holdings slumped. Hui holds Australian citizenship after studying for an MBA. At ninth place, Frank Lowy's wealth was calculated as $8.51 billion having sold out of shopping centres in December 2017. The Rich List noted Lowy sold Westfield’s international malls to Unibail-Rodamco for $32 billion – nearly treble what that entire company is now worth. In 20th place with $4.57 billion sits Dr Chau Chak Wing, a leading figure in the Australian-Chinese community. Veteran developer Lang Walker is in 21st place at $4.48 billion, with a 4 percent gain over the year. Walker Corporation has recently commenced construction of a masterplanned development north of Adelaide, Riverlea that will see 12,000 housing lots, some 14 years into its project planning. Riverlea will span a 1300 hectare site. One of the biggest movers on the Rich List was Maha Sinnathamby, the property developer and entrepreneur behind the Greater Springfield Development in Queensland, the largest master-planned community in Australia. Sinnathamby sits in 64th place at $1.78 billion, up 31 percent on his estimated worth last year. No change was calculated for Bob Ell at Leda Holdings in 55th place at $1.98 billion. Ell founded Leda in 1976 as a family company and is its executive chairman. Leda has developed more than $190 million in residential properties since 1981 including the recently completed River Meadows Country Estate, a 900-lot residential subdivision at Coomera at the foothills of the Gold Coast hinterland region. Leda's holdings include Cobaki Lakes, a 606-hectare site located south of the Gold Coast with the potential of up to 5,000 occupancies, golf course and town centre. Sam Tarascio, who heads Salta Properties in Melbourne, is given a $1.54 billion estimated worth, in 75th place. At a recent property industry roundtable, held by The Australian's Rich 250 magazine, Tarascio anticipated that by 2023 Melbourne will have a significant apartment undersupply. The Sydney based Aqualand boss Jin Lin is given an $843 million estimated worth. Aqualand will shortly welcome its first residents to Blue at Lavender Bay, and then launching AURA, located at the corner of Walker and McLaren Streets, North Sydney. Sydney developer, Winten's Garry Rothwell saw his wealth jump 14 percent to $700 million. Brisbane developer Kevin Seymour's wealth jumped 7 percent to $710 million. Melbourne developer Jonathan Hallinan at BPM saw a 2 percent gain to $735 million. Larry Kestelman at LK Property rose 3 percent to $85 million. Perth's Jack Bendat is given a $639 million estimated worth, Melbourne's Andrew and Michael Buxton, who co-founded Becton and now run MAB Corporation, came in at $652 million. Max Beck at $664 million. Melbourne developer Tim Gurner is on the list with a $609 million estimated worth in the 189th spot, his wealth up 4.8%. Sydney developer Bob Rose from Rosecorp is on the list at 190 with a $607 million estimated worth. The cut off wealth needed to be on the latest list is $590 million, with WA property developer Paul Blackburne coming in at 195 with a $596 million estimated worth. Blackburne has a $1 billion project pipeline.