Envato tech founders make Darwin home, and move up the ranks of the Richest 250
Now worth a combined $717m, this duo moved north to start a charitable program after founding one of Australia’s most successful technology companies.
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Meet Darwin’s very own rich listers, the 40-something couple behind one of Australia’s most successful technology companies.
Cyan and husband Collis Ta’eed moved to Darwin last year but remain significant shareholders of Envato, the online creative marketplace they started 16 years ago.
The Ta’eeds decamped to the Northern Territory in 2022 where they want to bankroll First Nations-led charitable programs.
They are the two Darwin residents that place on the 2022 edition of The List – Australia’s Richest 250, published by The Australian in a special edition on Friday.
Their combined estimated wealth of $717m is mostly due to their majority stake in the privately held Envato.
The Ta’eeds co-founded Envato from their garage in Sydney’s Bondi in 2006, an online marketplace for digital assets such as WordPress templates, and turned it into one of Australia’s most successful and profitable technology start-ups with annual revenue of more than $200m.
Envato made a net profit of more than $15m last year.
Collis Ta’eed stepped down in October 2020 as chief executive of the digital design asset business he started with Cyan, but the duo remain major shareholders.
They splashed out on two million dollar homes as part of their move to Darwin, one in Muirhead and the other in Rapid Creek.
Collis Ta’eed told the Australian Institute of Company Directors they had chosen to move to Darwin because the culturally diverse community and tropical beauty reminded him of growing up in Papua New Guinea.
“Darwin is a great place to learn from First Nations people about the land and its cultures. When we understand more, we’d like to support community projects through our charitable trust,” he told the AICD magazine.
The other main name on The List this year that is synonymous with Darwin is the Paspaley family. Headed by executive chairman Nicholas Paspaley, the family is best known for its famous pearls business but behind that brand name is also one of Australia’s most astute investors. Paspaley Group has the pearl retail business, an aviation and marine services division, pastoral and tourism holdings, and a property portfolio that stretches from Sydney’s Martin Place to Darwin, a shopping centre in Broome and a 39-storey Hong Kong office block. It is also set to open a luxury hotel in New York. T
The Paspaley family is also partnering with the Northern Territory government on the $400m East Arm ship lift facility that is meant to be operational by 2024.
The family business was started by pearling pioneer Nicholas Paspaley Snr in the 1930s after his family had arrived in Australia from Greece in 1919.
Gina Rinehart tops the 2022 edition of The List with a massive $32.64bn wealth. Fellow mining magnate Andrew Forrest comes in a close second with wealth of $31.77bn.
Cardboard box manufacturing and recycling magnate Anthony Pratt is third with $27.77bn wealth while Atlassian co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar are fourth and five with wealth of $26.20bn and $25.99bn respectively.
The 2022 edition of The List – Australia’s Richest 250 is published on Friday in The Australian.
Originally published as Envato tech founders make Darwin home, and move up the ranks of the Richest 250
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