The finances and assets of Australia’s most reclusive richlisters
Richest 250 | The names and extent of the wealth behind some of the nation’s biggest yet reclusive companies can be revealed for the first time thanks to never before seen company accounts.
They are some of the biggest yet mysterious brands and companies in Australia.
From $7bn petrol giants to huge property holdings owned by little-known billionaires, sponsors and backers of our biggest sports, to global success stories run by richlisters that few Australians have heard of.
The inner workings and business dealings of some of the biggest names and privately owned corporations in Australia had for decades been exempt from lodging annual financial reports until a recent change by federal parliament.
Now, financial documents which must be sent to Australia’s corporate regulator show huge revenue and profit numbers for some of the nation’s biggest and best-known companies and brands – and details of extensive assets and holdings.
Even if the names behind the brands and companies are reclusive billionaires and other members of The List – Australia’s Richest 250.
Here are the details of some of Australia’s most successful but little-known entrepreneurs and families.
United Petroleum – Avi Silver and Eddie Hirsch
Hirsch and Silver started United Petroleum in 1993, and have overseen growth in what is now a business with more than 500 petrol stations across the country and a substantial fuel terminal business.
Their combined estimated fortune is $4.36bn.
The duo received an $81m dividend this year after United made a $95m profit from a huge $7.9bn in revenue – making it one of the biggest private companies in Australia.
United signed a 20-year deal in 2024 with the government of Sri Lanka for the importation, storage, sale and distribution of petrol. This included taking over 150 existing petrol stations and gaining permission to build 50 new ones.
Blundstone – Helen Dickinson and Anne Routley
Dickinson and Routley are the little-known Hobart-based daughters of the late Harold Cuthbertson, who took over the family’s Blundstone boot-making business in 1953 and ran it successfully for 51 years.
They arrived on the Richest 250 for the first time in 2024 after the lodging of Blundstone Australia’s financial accounts with the corporate regulator.
Blundstone made a net profit of $US25.5m ($40m) in 2024 from $US116m ($182m) revenue, which was down from $US136m revenue in 2023.
The sisters shared a $US22m dividend.
Hamilton Island – Sandy Oatley and family
The Oatley family in 2023 considered selling its $1bn Hamilton Island resort but, after a review by investment bank UBS, decided to hold on to the popular tourism asset for now. Hamilton Island is the jewel in the Oatley family’s crown.
It was bought by Sandy Oatley’s late father, Bob, for about $200m in 2003, two years after he sold his Rosemount winery to Southcorp for $1.4bn.
Hamilton’s Island’s holding company, 21st Century Resorts Holdings, made a $28m net profit from about $332m revenue, according to a financial report lodged with the corporate regulator. Management said occupancy at the resort’s hotels dropped slightly to 80 per cent and it paid another $25.7m back to employees that had previously been underpaid – the same amount it paid out in 2023.
Leda Holding – Bob Ell
Billionaire Ell has gone from dominating the Sydney industrial property scene to building and owning shopping centres, and undertaking huge residential projects around NSW and Queensland. He started his Leda Holdings group in 1976 and has huge residential subdivision projects in and around the Gold Coast.
Private company Barob, which owns Leda Holdings, made a $163m net profit and has net assets of almost $2bn on its balance sheet – including $1.17bn in property, plant and equipment.
Pirtek – Peter Duncan and family
Duncan started the hydraulic and industrial hose business with Wally Davey in 1980, and adopted a franchise model five years later.
Pirtek has long been well known as a motor racing sponsor of supercars, touring car and rally teams, as well as for backing NRL club Parramatta and the New Zealand national rugby league team.
The privately-held Pirtek Fluid Systems made a $33m net profit in 2024 from $114m revenue.
Ateco Group – Neville Crichton
Billionaire Crichton has been reportedly looking for a buyer, or at least a partial exit of his huge car dealership business. He has mulled over an ASX-listing for Ateco and is said to have been considering offers from cashed-up overseas buyers.
Crichton, who sold his first car at age 13 to a prefect at his New Zealand high school, maintains ownership of Ateco, which sells and distributes brands like Maserati, Renault, LDV and Jeep in Australia and New Zealand.
Accounts for its holding company, Balverona, show a huge business with $1.98bn revenue in 2024, but rising costs pushed it into a $10m loss after making a $113m net profit a year earlier.
“This result is underscored by a deterioration in sales revenues from falling demand and escalating … vehicle pricing as well as general economic conditions,” a note in the accounts says.
Penrite Oil – Toby Dymond and family
Toby Dymond and his family oversee one of Australia’s most successful local manufacturers, oil and lubricants company Penrite.
Dymond’s late father, John, and mother Margaret bought the business in 1979 from founder Les Mercoles, who started it from his parents’ home in St Kilda in 1926.
Mercoles’ first batches of oils was made on a kitchen stove and delivered to service stations and factories in his father’s wheelbarrow.
Penrite makes vehicle and industrial lubricants, coolants, gear oils and hydraulic fluids at its Melbourne base.
It made a $53m net profit in 2024 from $332m sales.
Southern Steel – Peter Smaller
Little-known billionaire Peter Smaller owns one of the biggest privately held steel groups in the country, comprising 26 companies that supply, process and distribute steel products. Southern Steel Group traces its history back to 1947, when Southern Steel Supplies was established in Wollongong.
The Smaller family bought a 50 per cent share in 1986 then 100 per cent six years later.
Southern Steel made a $100m net profit in 2024 from $1.59bn revenue.
Australian Panels – John and Michael Borg
The Borg brothers are a quiet Australian success story.
In 1989, they started a small joinery firm in their parents’ garage on the NSW Central Coast. Now the company, formerly known as Borg Manufacturing, employs more than 2200 people making cabinet doors, benchtops, panels, laminates and other board products.
It made a $104m net profit in 2024 and revenue reached $975m.
Its brands include polytec, Crossmuller, Australian Panels, reDirect Recycling and Direct Pallets.
Stratco — Stratton family
Home building and renovations supplier business Stratco is well known for its patios, sheds, fencing and roofing products.
Alf Stratton started Stratco in Adelaide in 1948 to make sheet metal products for his plumbing business to sell.
It has been expanding around Australia ever since, including opening home improvement stores and also moving into New Zealand.
The private company that owns the business, now run by managing director Jarrod Stratton, is called Sleco and has $300m net assets on its balance sheet.
It made a $14m net profit from about $660m revenue in 2024.
Bartter Group – Simon Camilleri and family
The Camilleri family’s huge poultry business began in 1916 when Celestino “Charlie” Baiada moved to Australia from Malta and started processing chickens.
The family owns well-known brands such as Steggles and Lilydale.
The accounts for the privately-held Bartter Enterprises shows a business with a whopping $2.95bn revenue in 2024 from which it made a $25m net profit.
Envato – Collis and Cyan Ta’eed
Husband and wife Collis and Cyan Ta’eed started Envato in their Bondi garage, and the online marketplace for digital assets such as WordPress templates has become one of Australia’s most successful and profitable technology start-ups with annual revenue of more than $200m.
The Ta’eed family sold Envato to NYSE-listed Shutterstock in May 2024 for $US250m ($392m).
Envato made a $US21m net profit from $US200m revenue in the 2024 financial year.
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