Twiggy drops off as three West Australians make AFR’s Rich List top 10

West Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has fallen out of the Australian Financial Review Rich List top 10 for the first time in more than 15 years.

The iron ore tycoon was ranked the richest man in Australia from 2020 to 2023, before beginning to slide down the rankings following his split from wife, Nicola, and the dividing of their shared fortune in 2023.

Andrew and Nicola Forrest on the banks of the Swan River in Perth in 2023.

Nicola Forrest remains in the top 10, ranked ninth with an estimated fortune worth $12.8 billion, due to holding slightly more of the family’s Fortescue shares than her estranged husband.

Fellow WA mining magnate Gina Rinehart has held her position as the richest Australian for the sixth year in a row despite her fortune shrinking slightly from $40.6 billion in 2024 to $38.1 billion this year due to falling iron ore prices.

Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting is the country’s largest private mining company, with its Roy Hill mine in the Pilbara its most valuable asset.

Rounding out the West Australian contingent in the top 10 was media mogul and Seven Group Holdings boss Kerry Stokes with an estimated value of $12.7 billion – a figure which has nearly doubled since 2020, when his worth was forecast to be around $6.3 billion.

This year marks Stokes’ return to the top 10 after last appearing on the list five years ago.

Meanwhile, one West Australian was also among the 10 debutants to feature on the list for the first time this year.

Perdaman Group’s Vikas Rambal, is worth an estimated $5 billion.

Vikas Rambal in his Perth office.Credit: Ross Swanborough

The Indian-born businessman made his fortune through fertiliser plants, supplying urea to farmers.

His biggest project is on the Burrup Peninsula near Karratha.

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