BRW Rich List: Guess who is the richest Gold Coaster?

THE annual BRW rich list is out and there are two Gold Coasters figuring prominently in the list. Guess who and how much they’ve got?

Hand holding money - Australian dollars Donation generic Handout Bribe Political donation Picture: Supplied

MINING magnate Clive Palmer and property baron Bob Ell are the richest Gold Coasters in Queensland.

Mr Palmer ($1.4 billion) was the second highest-ranking Queenslander in the 2015 BRW 200 Rich List, despite ongoing legal battles with his Chinese mining partners, plunging iron ore prices and problems at his dinosaur-infested Palmer Coolum Resort taking some shine off his bottom line.

Mr Ell, ($1.32 billion) father-of-seven and founder of Leda Holdings, the third highest-ranked Queenslander, made his debut on the Rich List last year.

Clive Palmer — the richest Gold Coaster with $1.4b.

The 70-year-old Budds Beach-based developer, behind the giant Cobaki Lakes and Kings Forest estates, has continued to take advantage of the Chinese investment boom, with a string of big-ticket sales to cashed-up Asian investors.

John van Lieshout, ($1.47 billion) who turned the Super A-Mart furniture chain into a retail giant, retained his position as the richest Queenslander, with wealth of $1.47 billion.

Bob Ell.

An immigrant to Australia from the Netherlands in 1960, his wealth increased by $230,000 on last year due to the success of his property development empire.

Reclusive coal baron Chris Wallin ($1.3 billion) and Reg Rowe, ($871 million) founder of the Super Retail Group, round out the top five wealthiest Queenslanders.

Property was the dominant sector in this year’s Rich 200.

Harry Triguboff enjoyed the biggest rise in wealth on the list.

Of the 200 people on the list, 53 made most of their money from property development.

Apartments king and part-time Gold Coast resident “High Rise” Harry Triguboff enjoyed the biggest rise in wealth on the list and broke through the $10 billion mark for the first time, thanks to a booming property market.

Mr Triguboff, 82, who plans to continue expanding his apartment empire with more Gold Coast high-rises, almost doubled his net wealth after his Meriton Group racked up more than $1 billion worth of apartment sales at his Gold Coast and Sydney projects.

Gina Rinehart.

Gina Rinehart remains the richest Australian despite her wealth falling by $5.99 billion to $14.02 billion due to falling iron ore prices.

Packaging king Anthony Pratt and family took second spot after a big year for their US-based business. Fourth-ranked Frank Lowy grew his wealth by $700 million after the restructure of Westfield received strong sharemarket backing.

Hui Wing Mau.

Hong Kong-based billionaire Hui Wing Mau, who has Australian citizenship, has extensive property holdings in Sydney CBD office property and in China.

Total wealth of the BRW Rich 200 is up $16.81 billion to $193.61 billion.

There are 49 billionaires on the list — the most ever.

To find out who are the richest Gold Coasters, check out the Gold Coast Bulletin and goldcoastbulletin.com.au tomorrow.

QUEENSLAND 2015 BRW RICH 200

1. John van Lieshout — $1.47 billion

2. Clive Palmer — $1.4 billion

3. Bob Ell — $1.32 billion

4. Chris Wallin — $1.3 billion

5. Reg Rowe — $871 million

2015 BRW RICH 200

1. Gina Rinehart — $14.02 billion

2. Anthony Pratt and family — $10.76 billion

3. Harry Triguboff — $10.23 billion

4. Frank Lowy — $7.84 billion

5. Hui Wing Mau — $6.89 billion