$230m vintage car collection, $100m super yachts: What makes up Clive’s $18b fortune

Clive Palmer earns so much that the value of his collection of vintage cars is almost worth enough to make the ranks of Australia’s Richest 250 alone. See what makes him Qld’s richest man.

Clive Palmer earns so much that the value of his collection of vintage cars is almost worth enough to make the ranks of Australia’s Richest 250 alone.

Palmer is the richest Queenslander on the 2022 edition of The List – Australia’s Richest 250, published Friday in The Australian in a special edition magazine.

With a cutoff of $501m, The List means Australia’s richest people are wealthier than ever before.

Palmer leads the way, with his estimated fortune of $18.35bn enough for him to reach seventh position on The List – and make him almost $16bn richer than the next wealthiest Queenslander.

Clive Palmer with his 1948 silver wraith Rolls Royce.

“I’ve got the world’s biggest collection of vintage cars,” Palmer tells The List.

“They’re in Brisbane. I think the collection is worth about $230 million at the moment.

“For example, we’ve got more than 22 vintage Ferraris, 120 Mercedes, 100 Rolls Royces and Bentleys.

“They’ve been a good investment, and they’re probably up 30-40 per cent during the pandemic.

“I’d probably get $400 million if I sold them but I won’t, because I’ve been collecting since I was younger.”

Palmer’s estimated fortune is underpinned by the $620m in mining royalties he received every year from Chinese resources company CITIC, who Palmer has been engaged with a series of legal battles with for several years.

Clive Palmer with some of his collection. Photo: Iain Curry

That royalty income is enough for Palmer to have amassed a huge amount of assets in recent years. There are the two superyachts worth a combined $100m or more, at least four jets, big property holdings across Queensland, especially around Paradise Point on the Gold Coast, where his primary residence is, and the Coolum Resort and golf courses earmarked for apartment projects.

There is also a resort in Tahiti and rural property in Queensland, not to mention various mining tenement holdings that could one day yield coal. There are also warehouses in New Zealand and other property overseas.

Clive Palmer's yacht ‘Australia’ docked in Hobart. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Palmer is also spending more than $100 million on funding the United Australia Party’s federal election campaign this year, including tens of millions in political ads adorning billboards around the country, running during prime time television and seemingly before every YouTube video.

When asked why, Palmer says: “It’s only a couple of months work for me.”
The full 2022 edition of The List – Australia’s Richest 250 is published on Friday in The Australian.