Reclusive Hobart sisters at the heart of Blundstones fortune

Tasmania’s newest rich listers are the two reclusive owners of one of Australia’s most successful manufacturers, Blundstone.

Tasmania’s newest rich listers are the two reclusive owners of one of Australia’s most successful manufacturers, Blundstone.

Hobart sisters Helen Dickinson and Anne Routley, 83 and 77 respectively, are the daughters of the late Harold Cuthbertson, who took over the family’s Blundstone business in 1953 and ran it successfully for 51 years.

They arrive on The List - Australia’s Richest 250 for the first time this year with an estimated joint fortune of $686m after the lodging of Blundstone Australia’s financial accounts with the corporate regulator shows just how big the boot-making company is now.

Blundstone Australia made a $US32m ($50m) net profit from $US139m ($214m) revenue last year, Blundstone’s 2023 financial report revealed.

According to the financial report, the sisters have shared in $US47m ($72m) in dividends over the past two years.

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Blundstone was previously exempt from filing the report with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, but is now required to do so - along with a large group of other long-established private firms - after recent law changes by the Albanese Government.

Blundstone sells more than 2.7 million boots a year in 70 countries, but America is its biggest growth market. Management, led by joint chief executives Adam Blake and Darryl Wilkes, has said it expects 30 per cent of the group’s revenues to be derived in the US by 2025.

The Blundstone family started making boots in Hobart in 1870 after John and Eliza Blundstone emigrated from Derbyshire in England 15 years earlier. But they struck financial difficulty at the turn of the century they sold to the Cain family, who in 1932 sold to the Cuthbertsons.

Elsewhere, Burnie-based Dale Elphinstone is back in the billionaire ranks this year with an estimated $1.09bn fortune.

Elphinstone has built an Australian success story from Tasmania’s north, where he started modifying Caterpillar equipment for use underground in the shed of his father’s Burnie farm in 1975.

The Elphinstone Group today makes and modifies mining trucks and equipment, and also has a contract to manufacture turrets and hulls for the Australian Army’s new Huntsman howitzers. Elphinstone’s other investments include shares in several listed mining-related businesses.

Other Tasmanian links on The List this year include Federal Group owner Greg Farrell & family, who return to the Richest 250 with estimated wealth of $712m.

Federal Group made a $48 million net profit from $602 million revenue in 2023, according to documents lodged with ASIC.

Meanwhile, National Basketball League owner Larry Kestelman’s fortune is estimated at $912m. He also oversees a collection of investments and companies that turn over about $1.5 billion annually and owns the Tasmanian JackJumpers.

Billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart tops this year’s edition of The List – Australia’s Richest 250 with an estimated $50bn fortune, ahead of other resource industry giants like Andrew Forrest and his wife Nicola Forrest.

Cardboard box manufacturer Anthony Pratt and property legend Harry Triguboff round on the top five on The List.

The 2024 edition of The List – Australia’s Richest 250 is published on Friday in The Australian and online at www.richest250.com.au

Originally published as Reclusive Hobart sisters at the heart of Blundstones fortune