Nicola Forrest breaks into the Richest 250 Top 10 ahead of Andrew as fortunes recast
Nicola Forrest is wealthier than mining magnate Andrew Forrest, the husband from whom she has separated, thanks to a few lines on a notice recently sent to the ASX.
Nicola Forrest is wealthier than mining magnate Andrew Forrest, the husband from whom she has separated, thanks to a few lines on a notice recently sent to the Australian Securities Exchange.
The details of a newly formed company solely held by Ms Forrest contain the first clue of the carve-up of the vast Forrest fortune – until now the second biggest in Australia – and the dramatic effect it has on both the family and the ranks of the country’s wealthy elite.
Ms Forrest’s paper fortune is now about $1.1bn more than Dr Forrest after it was confirmed the pair were living separate lives in what is the largest split of wealth in Australian history.
Her new separate shareholding in Fortescue Metals Group, held just in her name while the rest of the Forrest family fortune is jointly held, could also deliver her $50m to $100m in annual dividend payments.
While they have said they will not divorce, the two are both billionaires and have on paper equally split almost all their vast Fortescue Metals Group shareholding worth about $20bn.
They also have an equal ownership of the private Tattarang business empire that spans cattle holdings, brands like RM Williams, Perth commercial property and at least two superyachts – Pangaea Ocean Explorer and Thalanyji.
Ms Forrest has one key asset now solely in her name, putting her estimated fortune at $15.46bn – which would be enough for seventh position on The List – Australia’s Richest 250 if it were recalculated now – and about $1.1bn higher than Dr Forrest’s $14.35bn wealth.
The difference is the 50 million FMG shares, which currently have a market value of about $1.1bn, that were transferred late in June to a newly formed company owned by Ms Forrest called Coaxial Ventures.
Had those shares been in Ms Forrest’s name previously, she would have received about $98m in dividends in the past year.
The next FMG dividend is due in September.
Details of the share transfer to Coaxial and other parts of the Forrests’ FMG shareholdings were contained in a notification sent by Fortescue to the ASX on June 22.
The separation has come as a surprise to few. Rumours of a rift between two of Australia’s most prominent business identities and philanthropists had been circulating for months.
Ms Forrest has been spending most of her time in Sydney, where the family has a Point Piper mansion bought for $16.3m in 2018, while the man almost universally known as “Twiggy” Forrest has being travelling overseas pursuing his green hydrogen dream with FMG subsidiary Fortescue Future Industries, or at home in Perth.
In June, the Forrests moved almost $5bn worth of FMG shares into the very large Minderoo charitable foundation, which now has about $7.5bn worth of net assets to make it the largest foundation funded by living Australians.
Minderoo had announced it would streamline its interests to focus mainly on communities, gender and equality, and ocean environmental causes.
At least for now, the former couple says their intertwined business and charitable interests will not be impacted by their decision to pursue separate lives.
“We will continue our shared mission to create and gift our wealth to tackle community and global challenges,” the pair said in a statement.
The Forrests were the first Australians to sign the Giving Pledge 10 years ago, promising to donate most of their wealth in their lifetimes.
At present though, the Forrest family wealth carve-up means Ms Forrest is now Australia’s second wealthiest female, behind only resources queen Gina Rinehart, who topped the Richest 250 this year with an estimated $37.1bn fortune.
Previously, Dr Forrest was second on The List with a $35.21bn wealth in March.
Cardboard box manufacturing and recycling giant Anthony Pratt has now assumed that position and also the mantle of Australia’s richest man with an estimated $27.87bn fortune from his Visy and Pratt Industries empires.
Apartments king Harry Triguboff, who recently celebrated his 90th birthday, is the third-wealthiest Australian at $23.6bn, and Clive Palmer holds down the fourth position with $20.4bn.
The two Atlassian software co-founders, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, have added almost $500m combined to their wealth since March, as Atlassian’s share price has risen steadily on the NASDAQ exchange in the US.
The two men have also sold down some stock.
Their wealth is now estimated at $16.26bn and $15.76bn respectively.
Ms Forrest and Dr Forrest are in seventh and eighth position respectively, with two more young technology founders rounding out the top 10.
Canva co-founders Melanie Perkins – Australia’s third-wealthiest woman – and her husband, Cliff Obrecht, share a combined $10.13bn fortune.
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