The best and worst-performing stocks of Australia’s billionaires

Medical, technology and some mining stocks are hot; Media, retail and gambling are not. These are the winning and losing investments for the Richest 250 so far in 2024.

Inside Vulcan Energy's laboratory operations.

There have been some unlikely winners for billionaires on the sharemarket so far this year.

A cardboard box magnate has watched his stake in a biotech firm surge, and a one-time casino king now invests in US tech stocks. Then there’s the radiology duo who are now worth more than $6bn combined.

Pharmaceutical companies, tech stocks and some mining companies are hot. Retail, media and construction shares are not.

There are plenty of members of The List – Australia’s Richest 250 who have outperformed the market so far in 2024; but it is not always easy to pick the right stocks.

Pizza is not to the market’s taste at the moment, and falling consumer spending has hit retailers and gambling stocks. It is tough going for free-to-air television companies too.

Here are the winners and losers among Australia’s richest people from the first half of this year:

WINNERS

Anthony Pratt (Mesoblast): It has been a rollercoaster ride for Mesoblast shareholders over the years, and while the company’s shares are trading at a quarter of the value of 2020 levels it has been a good 2024 so far.

Anthony Pratt is a shareholder in Mesoblast.

Pratt is a small shareholder and has watched the shares rise 254 per cent since January 1, as it received a positive hearing from US authorities for what it hopes will be eventual approval for a drug for pediatric patients.

Alex Waislitz (Clarity Pharmaceuticals): A billionaire micro and small cap investor, Waislitz has had a good year so far, with stocks like MMA Marine and Decmil rising in value. His Thorney investment group also has shares in radiopharmaceutical company Clarity, which is up 180 per cent this year.

JamesPacker (Nvidia): The jewel in billionaire businessman Packer’s US share portfolio is chip company Nvidia – just about the hottest stock in the world. Packer first emerged as a shareholder late last year and Nvidia is up 160 per cent this year. The tech company now accounts for just under half of Packer’s total holding in US shares – it was once mostly in Crown shares – and about 15 per cent of his estimated overall wealth.

Robert Millner (Zip Co): The chairman of Soul Patts, a company that Millner is the fourth family member to helm, has an impressive list of blue chip stocks. What started as a pharmacy business more than a century ago now has a portfolio including Brickworks, coal miner New Hope Corporation and TPG Telecom. Buy-now-pay-later firm Zip has been a good holding so far this year, rising 111 per cent.

Gina Rinehart (Vulcan Energy): Australia’s richest person recently increased her holding in the lithium hopeful, putting in $20m to help Vulcan secure funding for its flagship Germany project. Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting holds Vulcan stock, up 72 per cent this year, and has amassed a $1.5bn portfolio of mining stocks.

Tony Poli (West African Resources): Poli, originally an accountant, made his fortune in mining with gold company Eagle Resources and then iron ore miner Aquila Resources.

Tony Poli.

He sold out of the latter in 2015 and has since amassed significant property holdings and some mining stocks, including gold producer West African Resources, which is up 50 per cent this year.

Greg Goodman (Goodman Group): The industrial property company headed by Goodman himself is switching some proposed industrial sites over to data centre projects. That has helped push the group’s share price up about 42 per cent this year.

Michael Heine and family (Netwealth): The Heine family’s wealth management platform goes from strength to strength. The ASX-listed business is now run by Michael Heine’s son, Matt, while Heine is an executive director. Heine and Son this year marks 25 years in business, and its shares have hit record highs this year – rising about 41 per cent so far.

Anthony Hall and Sam Hupert (Pro Medicus): The amazing run of Hall and Hupert’s radiology imaging software and services business continues. Pro Medicus hit an all-time high this week and is up 37 per cent since January 1. Hall and Hupert’s stakes are now worth more than $3bn each.

David and Vicky Teoh (TUAS): Not content with having built TPG into one of Australia’s biggest internet services providers and mobile phone companies, the Teohs are at it again with the ASX-listed Tuas. It owns and operates the low-cost Simba Telecom brand in Singapore and is up 31 per cent on the ASX so far this year.

LOSERS

Raphael “Ruffy” Geminder.

Ruffy Geminder (The Reject Shop): Having been stymied so far in his attempt to privatise his listed Pact Group manufacturing business, Geminder has also watched another of his holdings, retailer The Reject Shop, fall 42 per cent since January.

Kerry Stokes (Seven West Media): The billionaire’s television and media business is down 36 per cent, as it grapples with a soft advertising market and relatively high debt levels. Stokes’ holding is mostly held through Seven Group Holdings though, which is up about 5 per cent thanks to its mining industry focused investments.

Jack Cowin (Domino’s Pizza): Cowin is still well ahead on his initial investment in what was initially Silvio’s, reportedly putting $400,000 into four pizza stores in 1986. It later merged with Domino’s and Cowin is now the biggest shareholder in a listed entity worth almost $3.5bn. But it has fallen 35 per cent this year.

Tim Goyder (Liontown): Having at one stage been a billionaire on paper thanks to the strong performance of several of his mining stocks, Goyder has seen shares in lithium play Liontown fall 33 per cent this year.

Bruce Gordon (Nine Entertainment): The owner of regional broadcaster WIN Corporation is also Nine’s biggest shareholder.

WIN owner Bruce Gordon.

But the television and media business has been hit by a string of issues, including the recent departure of chairman Peter Costello, and its shares are down 31 per cent.

Peter Cooper (Tabcorp): The renowned stockpicker is one of the bigger shareholders in Tabcorp via his Cooper Investors. But the wagering giant has been hit by soft trading conditions, and the departure of chief executive Adam Rytenskild in March, and has fallen 28 per cent this year.

Nick Politis (Eagers Automotive): Australia’s most successful car dealer has huge private dealership holdings and a big stake in the listed Eagers. But a recent profit warning sent Eagers shares down, and they have fallen 28 per cent this year.

Kerr Neilson (Platinum Asset Management): Neilson has stepped down from the board of the funds management group he started in 1994 but he maintains a large shareholding in the ASX-listed firm. As with other stockpickers, its shares have struggled in recent years and are down 22 per cent in 2024.

Wagner family (Wagner Holding Co): The Wagner family keeps expanding its operations around the Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport, west of Brisbane. This is the basis of its wealth, along with the ASX-listed Wagner Holding Co building materials company. It is down 22 per cent this year.

Michael Boyd (Sonic Healthcare): Boyd maintains a large shareholding in pathology group Sonic Healthcare, which he helped rescue as a young Perth accountant before stepping down from its board two decades ago. Its shares are down 21 this year.