It’s the billionaire version of four funerals and a wedding.
In the past 12 months, the Financial Review Rich List has farewelled four of its most iconic figures: Sydney property icon Lang Walker, veteran rag trader Marc Besen, car dealing legend Laurie Sutton and agribusiness giant John Kahlbetzer. Then in March, media magnate Rupert Murdoch, 93 – who has two children on this year’s list – announced he would marry his girlfriend, Elena Zhukova, 67.

On the surface, all of these events have the potential for succession drama: bitter fights over control of business empires, siblings going their separate ways, old wounds resurfacing as new partners are cut in.