Cameron Adams brings fresh blood to Tassie’s rich list with $4.7bn wealth

Tasmania’s wealthiest resident is a technology billionaire who lives quietly in Launceston and is funding significant environmental rehabilitation projects in the state and around the world.

Tasmania’s wealthiest resident is a technology billionaire who lives quietly in Launceston and is funding significant environmental rehabilitation projects in the state and around the world.

Cameron Adams is the co-founder of online graphics giant Canva, which he helped Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht start and grow to a huge $US32bn valuation in the past decade.

Adams, 45, works as Canva’s chief technology officer. The business has been one of Australia’s biggest global success stories and is now valued at $US32bn – up from $US26bn, and after some share sales by staff and investors in 2024.

His valuation from his stake in Canva is estimated at $4.79bn, which places him at 31st on The List – Australia’s Richest 250, published by The Australian today.

In recent years, Adams and wife Lisa Miller have moved to Tasmania where she runs environmentally friendly venture capital fund Wedgetail, a eco-focused venture capital and loan

Wedgetail’s Tasmanian projects include 5000 hectare property once used for sheep grazing and crop growing, “the Quoin”, that Miller purchased in 2021 and now being rehabilitated.

In total, Wedgetail has made 15 investments around the world including a bird-friendly certified cacao farm in the Dominican Republic and a Brazilian agriforest intelligence platform.

Canva co-founders Cliff Obrecht, Melanie Perkins and Cameron Adams.

Tasmania’s other entrant on The List this year is Dale Elphinstone, the Burnie mining machinery manufacturer who is celebrating 50 years in business.

Elphinstone – worth an estimated $1.29bn – started tinkering with Caterpillar equipment in his father’s shed at his farm in Burnie back in 1975 and eventually built a mining truck and equipment empire.

Today, the wider Elphinstone Group makes and modifies mining trucks and equipment, has Caterpillar dealerships in Australia and Vietnam, and investments in mining equipment-related companies. Elphinstone Group also last year opened a boutique hotel in Burnie, One North Terrace.

Just missing The List this year are Hobart sisters and owners of Blundstone, Helen Dickinson and Anne Routley, who are 84 and 78 respectively.

Blundstone’s net profit fell from $US31m in 2023 to $26m last year, meaning the estimated wealth of the sisters falls below the cut-off.

Gina Rinehart tops The List with an estimated $46.34bn fortune, and is one of a record 170 billionaires (including joint entries).

Total wealth for the 250 names on The List this year reaches $689.52bn, and the average wealth is $2.76bn.

Cliff Obrecht, Cameron Adams and Melanie Perkins.

There are 19 new names, led by Wall Street identity Michael Dorrell. The co-founder of infrastructure investment business Stonepeak debuts in 13th position with estimated wealth of $13.54bn.

The youngest person on The List is Robbie Ferguson, 28, the co-founder of tech firm Immutable. The oldest is 101-year-old poker machine pioneer Len Ainsworth.

The cut-off to make The List sits at $635m, a mark reached by New York-based Rokt founder and chief executive, Bruce Buchanan.