Graeme Hart has once again been named the richest man in Australasia by Forbes magazine, which has estimated his net worth at $US5.3 billion.Last year Mr Hart nudged out gaming magnate James Packer to become the first New Zealander to be named the richest
Graeme Hart has once again been named the richest man in Australasia by Forbes magazine, which has estimated his net worth at $US5.3 billion.
Last year Mr Hart nudged out gaming magnate James Packer to become the first New Zealander to be named the richest in Australasia by Forbes’ rich list.
Mr Hart – who also topped last year’s NBR rich list with more than double the wealth of the Todd Family at number two – placed at 144 on Forbes’ annual billionaires list.
His fortune has improved by more than $US1 billion since last year, but he has still slipped down the rankings from 110th place last year.
Described by Forbes as the “master of the leveraged buyout”, Mr Hart has not been involved in any high profile dealmaking in the past 12 months, although he did restructure some of his holdings.
Last month he refused to confirm a report from the Australian Financial Review that his wholly owned Rank Group was considering a $A8 billion overseas sharemarket float or trade sale this year.
Brothers Richard and Christopher Chandler may be giving much of their fortune away through their philanthropic activities, but were still the only other New Zealanders to make the list.
Richard was ranked at 307th place with an estimated fortune of $US3.1 billion, while Crhistopher’s $US1 billion fortune saw him come into the list at #937.
Mexican tycoon Carlo Slim Helu has knocked Bill Gates off the top of the Forbes list, with his fortune swelling by $US18.5 billion over the past year to $53.5 billion.
Mr Gates was only just behind with an estimated worth of $53 billion after topping the list 14 times in the past 15 years.
The full list can be found online here.
