Rich list season gives glimpse inside the world of the ultra-wealthy

It’s Rich List season, and according to the various stocktakes of wealth that have been published recently around the world, it’s been a tough 12 months at the pointy end. Boo hoo.

These annual roll calls of the super rich make fascinating reading when it comes to the rise and fall of the world’s great fortunes, and reveal how so few have managed to have so much.

James and Kerry Packer in 1998.Credit: Peter Morris

Take, for example, James Packer. A couple of decades ago the billionaire’s late father, Kerry Packer, was often on top of the Rich List. His son ranked a comparatively modest 18th spot in last week’s Financial Review Rich List with $4.95 billion, yet he receives much more media attention than many of the 17 billionaires in front of him.

Indeed, James Packer remains just as famous as Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, who rank far below him at 198th (their Rich List top 200 debut) with an estimated combined fortune of $695 million. Their wealth is the result of fame being deliberately courted and monetised.

In his case, it is the enduring mystique of the Packer legacy – courtesy of their still immense wealth – that guarantees his position in the national dialogue, much to James’ chagrin.

Bernard Arnault, billionaire and chairman of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, right, and one of his five children, Frederic Arnault.Credit: Getty Images

But try as I might, it’s hard to muster up much sympathy – especially the wealthiest person on planet Earth, luxury fashion tycoon Bernard Arnault.

News emerged recently he had lost $16.9 billion in a matter of hours as investors got nervous about the future prospect of expensive handbag and designer frock sales in the economic mess that is today’s America.

That equated to $11.7 million a minute – or about 28 of those flash Louis Vuitton “Cabinet of Curiosity” travelling trunks created by Aussie designer Marc Newson that sell for $390,000 ... each.

Frenchman Arnault, 77, is the founder of LVMH, which owns a string of iconic brands including Tiffany & Co, Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior. Even with the recent losses, he is still sitting on a fortune, which the latest Forbes World Billionaires List estimates at $324 billion when I last checked.

Nicknamed the “wolf in cashmere” thanks to his predatory business acumen, he reportedly has lunch once a month with his five children in a private dining room at the LVMH Paris headquarters to discuss succession, which sounds a lot more fascinating than anything portrayed on the fictional TV series of the same name.

Elon Musk, in costume.Credit: Getty

Prolific progenitor (10 children at last count), Tesla founder, rocket man and self-styled “chief twit” Elon Musk retains second place on the Forbes list with a $277 billion net worth, with Jeff Bezos taking out third place with $175 billion.

Bezos can clearly afford the $6,600 bottle of Dugat-Py Grand Cru from Domaine Bernard he recently ordered to toast his engagement to girlfriend and soon-to-be second wife Lauren Sanchez at the swish La Petit Maison in Cannes, France.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos with Lauren Sanchez at the premiere.Credit: AP

By comparison Australia’s richest citizen, Gina Rinehart, looks like a poor cousin.

Last week, miner turned cattle queen Rinehart was again named as Australia’s wealthiest person, topping the Financial Review Rich List with a staggering $37.4 billion.

While the various dramas – many of them played out in court – which her fortune has been at the centre of are well known, last month, the billionaire also put her money towards earning a few all-too-rare brownie points.

Gina Rinehart and daughter Ginia.

Rinehart sent along her daughter, Ginia, to the Gold Dinner fundraiser at the Sydney Town Hall to represent the family firm Hancock Prospecting as it donated $5 million for the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation. The rapturous applause it received was clearly warranted.

Gold Dinner co-chair Linda Penn later told me it would help fit out a large part of the new Kids Complex Care Centre at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, to be known as the Kookaburra Centre. Helping sick kids – who could argue with it being a good deed?

And yet, sitting just two tables away, the wife of another moneybags – though “pov” compared to Rinehart’s wealth – whispered in my ear as we discussed the very public donation: “That’s chump change for them”.

I crunched the numbers. That $5 million donation – admittedly one of many that Rinehart gives to various charities and causes (though no longer the $15 million she once pumped into Netball Australia) – represents 0.013 per cent of her reported wealth.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average annual wage for all employees, including casual and part-time workers is $69,924.40 before tax. And 0.013 per cent of that is $9.09.

Of course, for the vast majority of us $5 million is a huge sum of money, and it will go a long way to helping those children.

The Gold Dinner raised a record $19.2 million – confidently eclipsing the $15 million target.

So happy were the gathered wealthy, they gave themselves a standing ovation when they discovered just how generous they had been.

It was quite a sight to behold, watching a room full of 1 per centers slapping each other on the back, especially for someone who caught a bus to the event.

This year, marks the 40th anniversary of the annual Financial Review Rich List, first published in BRW Magazine in 1983 when the total worth of Australia’s wealthiest people was $4.6 billion and it took “just” $10 million to make the list.

It now takes $690 million, with the collective wealth totalling more than half a trillion dollars at $563 billion.

Of this year’s roll call, Rich List editor Michael Bailey said: “Some people criticise the Rich List as a mere celebration of wealth. We prefer to see it as a celebration of the hard work and innovation that continues to deliver prosperity to Australia.”

Though amid a cost of living crisis for the majority of us, my applause is a little muted.

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