Tony and Christina Quinn make Financial Review Rich List with combined $594m despite their split three years ago

Tony and Christina Quinn have made a nationwide rich list as a couple with $594 million wealth — but neither of those things are true. The list also features a photo of the wrong Tony Quinn.

VIP Pet Food founders Christina and Tony Quinn. The pair and their assets have since split.

TONY and Christina Quinn have made a nationwide rich list as a couple with $594 million wealth — but neither of those things are true as the pair split three years ago.

The Financial Review Rich List had the Gold Coast-based Quinns at number 168 on the list, with combined wealth of $594 million, a kitty Mr Quinn confirmed was “not combined anymore”.

Mr Quinn said the pair had split in 2016, about a year after they sold their successful VIP Pet Foods business to Quadrant Private Equity for $410 million.

The list described the Quinns as “owners, Darrell Lea”, however, their joint ownership of the confectionary giant ended two years ago when they sold the company in a $200 million deal with the same equity firm.

Tony Quinn with his Aston Martin Vulcan. Picture: Jerad Williams

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In the Rich List, released overnight, Nine Media said “the Quinns purchased New World Foods last August and “own two motor racing tracks in New Zealand”.

However company records show only Mr Quinn purchased New World, a 30-year-old beef jerky operation based in the northern NSW town of Casino. He also owns the popular Game Over entertainment centre at Helensvale.

The Financial Review Rich List also published a photo of a different man with the same name as Tony Quinn. Photo: Supplied

The masthead published the error in print and online today despite being made aware of it yesterday.

A spokesperson for The Australian Financial Review said the Rich List was calculated “using publicly available data and confidential consultation with those on the list”.

The errors occurred despite the paper recently interviewing Mr Quinn for a piece on advice from Rich Listers, in which they published in the Rich List magazine with a photo of a different man with the same name.

Factory operators at Darrell Lea, which the Quinns sold in 2017.

Mr Quinn said the shared wealth had been divided: “it’s not something that you’d normally discuss but if you’re talking percentages it’s somewhere around 60-40”.

“Everything was shared and when we sold Darrell Lea that was really just to tidy up loose ends, to tidy up that side of it,” he said yesterday.

“I ended up with the racetracks in New Zealand, with the motorsport activities.

“Christina is still exceptionally well-off but the focus now for her is on the grandkids and she’s doing that and I’m still carrying on with my business things.”

Public property records show the Quinns also sold their shared art-deco mansion at Tamborine Mountain, for $5.5 million in August 2016, and Mr Quinn replaced it solo with an $8m waterfront five-bedder at Admiralty Dr, Paradise Waters in March this year.

The Quinns sold this Tamborine Mountain mansion in 2016.

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He said he would likely not make the list, which has a cut-off of $427 million, based on his separate personal wealth, but was not bothered by it.

“To be honest, it was something I was never really that interested in,” Mr Quinn said.

“I know a lot of people that should be on there and I know a lot of people that shouldn’t be on there.

“One thing it doesn’t count is your borrowings and we’ve not had any borrowings for the last 20 years and that’s a major influence.

“Most people, particularly property people, have got a lot of borrowings and they don’t take that into account — so really it’s not right.

“I think both Christina and myself would be more than happy to be off the list, I don’t think we need to be on the list.”

Tony Quinn bought this mansion in March.

Mr Quinn bought Retail Food Group’s ill-fated global headquarters site in Molendinar for $6.5 million in December and said he planned to build a new factory for his jerky business in coming years.

“I’ve got a very contented life at the moment, I’m quite happy just minding my own business and getting on with things, quite happy.”