As an aspiring entrepreneur in the early 1980s I was fascinated by the Rich List – a listing of the wealthiest 200 Australians. Over the years, my interest waned and then lapsed, until 2024 when, for the first time, my name appeared on the list, forcing me to revisit an old haunt.

I was staggered by the increase in wealth of the Rich List in that 40-year period and decided to compare it to the rest of the population. This is what I found.