The word “oligarch” is defined by Wikipedia as “a power structure where control resides in a small number of people”. In the Russian context it has now been widely accepted as describing powerful billionaires who are close to Vladimir Putin.
Australia has a similar-sized economy to Russia and in recent years we have also seen an explosion in the number of local billionaires, many of whom have benefited from government regulation or licences, particularly access to mineral resources.
While the likes of Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer have got staggeringly rich on WA iron ore, they don’t control major ASX listed companies.
However, a quick scan through the top 50 ASX listed companies by market capitalisation, as published in The Weekend Australian, reveals companies influenced by the following rich listers:
8. Fortescue Metals: Chairman and founder Andrew Forrest controls the company with a 36% stake worth more than $20 billion and is now busily snapping up iconic Australian businesses such as RM Williams, driving much of the clean energy debate and hiring powerful political and government figures like Malcolm Turnbull and Reserve Bank deputy governor Guy Debelle. He acts like an oligarch.
13. Goodman Group: Long-time CEO Greg Goodman has been running the world’s biggest industrial property owner and manager for more than a decade and owns about $900 million worth of shares, although the market cap is now a whopping $40 billion so he only has about 2.25%. Keeps a low profile. Goodman doesn’t make any political donations.
18. Aristocrat Leisure: Despite no longer having board representation, the seven sons of 98-year-old founder Len Ainsworth collectively still own about 15% which is worth around $3.5 billion. Len has been influencing permissive poker machine policies in the world’s biggest gambling nation since NSW first legalised his self-described “mouse traps” in 1956.
22. REA Group: The Murdoch family control the owner of realestate.com.au through News Corp’s 61% stake which is currently worth around $10 billion. The Murdoch oligarchs are worth about $30 billion in total and own about 15% of News Corp’s overall shares (but control it through gerrymandered ownership of around 40% of the votes) so only about 5% of the family’s wealth is tied up in REA.
23. Sonic Healthcare: The great pathology consolidator has created several rich listers, including founder and former chairman Michael Boyd. Relies on enormous government funding to prosper and has been enriched by COVID as its market capitalisation is now $16 billion.
31. Ramsay Healthcare: Another big beneficiary of public health spending which has seen the charitable foundation of the late founder Paul Ramsay (who was a golfing buddy of John Howard) sit on a pile of shares worth more than $4 billion. The overall company is currently capitalised at almost $14 billion.
33. Resmed: Founder of the sleep disorder company Dr Peter Farrell remains chair and his son is the CEO. They haven’t retained a substantial stake in what is a now a global $48 billion company but they are still worth hundreds of millions.
35. Computershare: Founder Chris Morris stepped off the board last year but is a billionaire and remains the second largest shareholder after Australian Super with a 5.3% stake worth $700 million in the $13 billion company.
37. Endeavour Group: Billionaire pokies baron Bruce Mathieson is a director and the largest shareholder with almost 15% of the enormous hotels and liquor business spun off by Woolworths last year, which operates around 12,500 pokies machines in 300 pubs across Australia.
38. Reece Australia: The three Melbourne-based Wilson brothers — Alan, John and Bruce — collectively own 56% of Australia’s biggest plumbing supplies business and this stake is worth $6.7 billion. However, they stick to plumbing rather than throwing their weight around politically so is fairer to call them billionaires rather than oligarchs.
44. TPG Telecom: Used to be directly controlled by two billionaires, David Teoh and Robert Millner, until they merged with Hutchison-Vodafone to scale up and take on Optus and Telstra. Teoh was diluted down to 14% and quit as chairman of the combined outfit last year while Millner’s conglomerate, Soul Pattinson, now only controls 12.6% but he retains a seat on the board.
48: Seek: Founded by the Bassat brothers, Paul and Andrew, who are now collectively close to being worth $1 billion after more than 20 years of hard work and success. Also brought in James Packer’s then conglomerate PBL as a 25% shareholder before Seek floated in 2005, although he foolishly sold out at $5.05 raising $440 million in 2009. Seek shares closed at $28.53 yesterday, giving it a market cap of almost $10 billion.
Outside the top 50 you have arguably two of the best known genuine oligarchs in Australia, James Packer and Kerry Stokes. Packer is poised to cash in his 36% stake in Crown Resorts and pocket $3.3 billion if the Blackstone takeover is approved, ending a multi-generation run of power and prominent business dealings by his family.
Stokes started out trying to emulate James’ father Kerry Packer but ended up doing better and is arguably the most powerful figure in Perth through his ownership of the monopoly West Australian newspaper and the highest rating television station.
Like many of the Russian oligarchs, Packer and Stokes enjoy the finer things in life such as superyachts, private planes, great access to politicians and extravagant property holdings all over the world.
Is it fair to call Australian billionaires oligarchs? Let us know your thoughts by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.
