How Melanie Perkins could make Canva the next Microsoft Office

AFR BOSS magazine profiles three contenders to follow in the footsteps of Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar to produce a global tech giant.

Yolanda RedrupRich List Editor

Feb 7, 2019 – 11.00pm

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Melanie Perkins is on a roll. Named one of The Australian Financial Review’s business people of the year in 2018, the 31-year-old co-founder of graphic design start-up Canva is already worth $177 million (combined with her co-founder Cliff Obrecht) and has built her business to employ 450 people.

Perkins is not a household name, but that could change if she achieves her grand vision of "empowering the world to design". Having cracked the lauded unicorn status, achieving a $US1 billion valuation in January 2018, her next big challenge is to grow the company to a $10 billion valuation, then $100 billion.

Yolanda Redrup is the editor of the AFR Rich List. She previously reported on technology, healthcare and Street Talk. Connect with Yolanda on Twitter. Email Yolanda at yolanda.redrup@afr.com