Australia’s new billionaires’ row revealed

This is where Australia’s super wealthy now want to live and the lifestyle they want to enjoy.

This is where Australia’s super wealthy now want to live and the lifestyle they want to enjoy.

Tamarama is fast becoming a coastal Point Piper, with another big money man buying a $20m home and planning to rebuild.

In recent weeks, Akuna Capital CEO Andrew Killian has been spotted at 3 Gaerloch Ave, Tamarama with rugby league star turned buyer’s advocate Craig Wing and architects.

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The buyer can be been revealed as Akuna Capital CEO Andrew Killian.

The current residence has a huge outdoor terrace at the rear.

It’s the view that sets it apart.

And Friday’s settlement reveals Killian as the purchaser of the Gaerloch Ave duplex that sold via Simon Exleton of Pillinger in April.

It’s understood Killian plans to knock down the duplex, previously owned by Mike Charlesworth, former owner of The Central Coast Mariners and now CEO of London-based Mediatel, and build a new home for himself on the 400 sqm block to capitalise on the dream ocean views

Australian advertising executive and founder and chairman of Droga5, David Droga has spent plenty to live on billionaire’s row. Photo: Nigel Barker

Roosters NRL premiership winner Craig Wing is now a buyers’ advocate, helping others purchase homes in the area.

Killian, the former Chicago-based derivatives trader, arrived back in Australia in 2020, having purchased the former Vaucluse Rd, Vaucluse mansion of businessman Alex Ma for $30m.

That remains in his name, and is believed to be occupied by his now ex wife.

Killian’s future home in Tama is across from the old Californian bungalow Lang Syne that sold for $45m last May, bought by New York-based adman David Droga, who is building a Luigi Rosselli-designed residence on the site that Exleton has predicted will be worth $100m when complete in 2026.

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It’s liveable as is, but no surprise that the duplex has a date with a wrecking ball.

Pillinger’s Simon Exleton has sold four out of the five of the highest-priced beachside sales in 2024, three of them in Tamarama.

The billionaire fund manager, Will Vicars, bought a humble semi at 23 Gaerloch Ave panoramic 180-degree views of the ocean for $11m in late 2022. He also owns 7 Gaerlich Ave, bought for about $9m.

And environmentalist investor Justin Punch and Patty Akopiantz, who have their Carlisle St home up for auction next Saturday with a $9m guide via Exleton, are currently rebuilding 9 Gaerlich Ave via Madeleine Blanchfield Architects, purchased for $10.5m in 2021.

What the new $100m pad at Tama will look like.

Then there’s the Zimmerman family, which paid $20m for a block of four apartments at 1 Gaerloch Ave as a long-term investment in January.

A sketch of the home.

Another sketch of the home.

Exleton has personally sold four out of five highest-priced beachside sales in 2024, three of them in Tamarama and Bronte’s most expensive home at $25m.

This is where the rich now want to live.

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Originally published as Australia’s new billionaires’ row revealed