BRW rich list released soon

Cartoon: Peter Nicholson

As a richie, you love it or loathe it. Devour its pages or look the other way.

The release of BRW’s annual tally of our nation’s richest is only two sleeps away. And we can’t wait.

Mining giant Gina Rinehart (first last year, with a fortune of $14 billion) will be bracing to fall like the price of iron ore. Could be a dampener on her youngest daughter Ginia’s impending nuptials to her bodyguard boyfriend at Hamilton Island’s Qualia.

That could leave the top spot to American box maker Anthony Pratt (second last year with $10.7bn) or Meriton apartment king Harry Triguboff (third last year, with a fortune worth $10.2bn), who has had a cracking year thanks to the Asia-led Sydney real estate boom.

Last year, Triguboff had the great satisfaction of leap-frogging his property rival Frank Lowy (fourth with $7.8bn). Could this be Harry’s year?

Incredibly, the top 10 may be without a Packer this year, thanks to the settlement of Kerry Packer’s empire between siblings James (seventh with $6bn) and Gretel (did not place).

The collapse of gaming in Macau and Packer’s cash and investments settlement to his sister should see a considerable dive in Packer’s wealth. Gretel will catapult on to the list as a newly minted billionaire in her own right.

Other new entrants will be the Reliance Plumbing Munz family ahead of their wealth-­defining float, along with Kym Grundy and Joy Chambers, following the death of TV production legend Reg Grundy (59th with $809 million).

Talk is that scandal-ridden 7- Eleven founder Russ Withers’ wealth will top $1bn (last year it was $787m, placing him 64th), while Atlassian founders Mike Cannon-Brookes (the bearded one) and Scott Far­quhar (the other one), and vitamin boss Marcus Blackmore (the Liberal donor) will move like pill-popping sprinters up the tally.

And then there’s the ­declining fortune of Clive Palmer, last year said to be worth $1.4bn (placing him 30th). The retiring Member for Fairfax is expected to “do a Titanic” after the collapse of Queensland Nickel.

Couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke.

Star recruit

ANZ boss Shayne Elliott’s new recruit Michelle Jablko was still the talk of the town yesterday.

Who would billionaire retail entrepreneur Solly Lew have on speed dial now that his girl Jablko had gone into commercial banking?

Assistant Treasurer Kelly O’Dwyer’s hubbie, UBS banker Jon Mant, who with Jablko advised Lew on his tilt at David Jones, might have room in his schedule for more time with Lew and his lieutenant Mark McInnes.

Jablko’s leg-up is also a win for prestigious Melbourne Jewish school Bialik College, where ANZ’s newly appointed CFO has recently become a director. Her kids go to the school, which suddenly has a four pillar in its midst.

For what it’s worth, Jablko’s husband Paul Wegener, a former relationship manager at Credit Suisse, does most of the drop-offs. After this development that’s unlikely to change.

Not impressed

But not everyone was impressed.

Bell Potter’s Angus Aitkin told clients “investment bankers tend to be crap at most things in the listed world”, adding that Jablko as “new CFO has to be one of the dumber appointments I have seen”.

“UK clients last night were completely amazed that they would appoint a CFO whose last major deal was advising Slater & Gordon to buy the Quindell assets for over $1bn last year that are now worth bugger all,” Aitkin wrote.

“I would be surprised if you saw anything but selling of ANZ from UK investors let alone anywhere else.”

Here’s hoping Elliott’s London roadshow curried some favour in the Old Dart last week, when austerity measures meant the boss got about, Turnbull-style, on the Tube.

Joys of London investor roadshows. Luxury all the way. pic.twitter.com/caoAc8ZgSl

— Shayne Elliott (@ElliottShayne) May 18, 2016

Instos would have liked the touch.

And at least Elliott can take comfort in his bank’s decision to knock back a role in the lending syndicate for the Quindell deal, while syndicate managers Westpac were believed to be in for $290m and NAB for $120m.

Shrinking profits

Jablko starts at ANZ in late July, allowing for plenty of farewells from her old shop Greenhill.

But the way things are faring at the boutique, the new ANZ exec might have to pick up the tab.

New local accounts show that the Roger Feletto-led outfit lost $4.9m last year from a previous profit of $6.1m. Revenue was $24.1m, down from $30m last year.

And there’s a bloodbath in the bonus pool.

Bonuses payable have been slashed from $4.75m previously to $2.8m. The diminished loot will be shared between 38 staff. Make that 37.

Making a meal of it

Whether judged by food or talent, it wasn’t quite up to this journal and BHP’s Competitive Advantage Forum lunch last week at the Ivy. But — fair is fair — there was a good crowd along at the Fin Review’s Chanticleer lunch in Sydney on Tuesday.

Joining Mr Chook himself on the panel were 21st Century Fox director Sir Rod Eddington, Telstra director Nora Scheinkestel and surprise guest Vin Diesel, who was curiously well across the workings of energy company AGL. Really, AGL should keep the action movie star in mind should it sour on its New York-born, Democrat-voting current boss, Andy Vesey.

Premier Mike Baird’s new employee Clive Mathieson was along with fellow Adelaide Mafioso Helen McCabe, formerly the editor-in-chief of Australian Women’s Weekly and now an increasingly accomplished gardener. The lady McCabe replaced at AWWDeborah Thomas (the current CEO of listed entertainment business Ardent Leisure) was to attend but sent her apologies for family — not private equity — reasons.

Senior AFR reporter Perry Williams was along and working diligently. If you can believe it, he’s one of the nearly 100 editorial staff on their way out of Fairfax, joining the Fin’s foreign editor Michael Dwyer and too many others to list. Snap them up while you can.

Yabba’s dapper do

The save-the-dates were sent out late yesterday afternoon — on Friday, June 24, Michael Yabsley’s Wombat Hollow Forum will gather for an election special.

After Monday night’s Four Corners episode, it will be interesting to see who turns up at the Forum, a secret society nestled in the stately NSW southern highlands.

Yabsley — the Liberal Party’s honorary federal treasurer from 2008 to 2010 — had a star turn in the Aunty special on political donations. He spoke damningly about the dark arts of political fundraising in Australia.

It was an appearance that campaigning Malcolm Turnbull and his consigliore Arthur Sinodinos could have done without.

And it raised eyebrows across the Liberals’ NSW division. Interestingly, Yabsley agreed to appear about four weeks ago. Had he forgotten his friend PM Turnbull would be in the middle of a federal election campaign?

Hardly. He told us it was an attempt to raise the profile of a critical civic issue.

“Enough wise heads in the party know the problem is real. And ultimately it needs to be solved,” Yabsley said.

And had the PMO been in touch since it went to air? “No. No one has reprimanded me,” the mayor of Wombat Hollow assured us.

It’s amazing to think that only in February, PM Turnbull was the guest of honour at a special event put on by Yabsley’s Forum. Hundreds gathered in their finest tweed for the Geoff Jansz-catered affair. Celebrated painter John Olsen even gave the PM a painting.

Don’t count on a return visit in a month’s time.

Pilbara pay freeze

Directors of red-hot lithium stock Pilbara Minerals must be thinking there’s not much more they can do for a pay rise.

After overseeing Pilbara’s rise from nothing into a $700m-odd outfit over the past year, the directors reckoned shareholders wouldn’t mind adding a few dollars to their kitty to attract a board that would match Pilbara’s new-found size. They were wrong.

Chair Tony Leibowitz was forced to pull a resolution to increase the total pool of director fees from $400,000 to $1m a year after a backlash from instos.

Leibowitz told Margin Call the resolution attracted enough votes to pass. But given there were only a few votes in it, they opted to enter a period of “consultation”.

We gather some instos are cranky they weren’t consulted about the hike.

So that leaves Pilbara in about the bottom fifth percentile for director fees among its peer group. Pass the hat, would you?