Richest 250: Viv Oldfield joins Northern Territory’s richest
There’s a new Territorian among Australia’s wealthiest people this year as the bush makes a comeback while tech fortunes fall.
The Northern Territory has a new member of the country’s wealthy elite, with Alice Springs identity Viv Oldfield joining the ranks of Australia’s richest.
A one-time horse trainer and owner, Oldfield now runs one of the largest cattle properties in Australia.
He and business partner Donny Costello operate the Crown Point Pastoral Company, which last year bought four cattle stations from billionaire Gina Rinehart.
Don’t miss your copy of The List: Australia’s Richest 250, exclusively in The Australian on Friday, March 24 and online at rich250.com.au.
Their portfolio of pastoral stations is now said to be bigger than Belgium.
Oldfield also owns Silver City Drilling, which has a fleet of more than 25 drilling rigs operating around Australia.
His wealth is estimated at $723m, which puts him in position 180 on this year’s edition of The List – Australia’s Richest 250 published in The Australian on Friday.
The Territory’s other residents on The List are technology couple Cyan and Collis Ta’eed
They moved to Darwin in 2021 but remain significant shareholders of Envato, the online creative marketplace they started 16 years ago.
The Ta’eeds decamped to the Northern Territory during the pandemic, and have said they want to bankroll First Nations-led charitable programs and make climate technology investments.
Collis Ta’eed stepped down in October 2020 as chief executive of the digital design asset business he started with Cyan, but the duo remain major shareholders.
They bought two million dollar homes as part of their move to Darwin, one in Muirhead and the other in Rapid Creek.
They have also backed Brisbane ethical investment fintech Bloom Impact Investing, which has an app designed to make it easy for retail investors to make impact investments.
The Ta’eed’s estimated wealth falls to an estimated $519m combined this year, compared to $717m in 2022 when technology company valuations were skyrocketing.
Envato’s latest financial report shows their net profit was $US10.4m ($15.6m), down about $US2.5m from 2021. Revenue was more than $200m and the couple shared in a $US40m dividend.
One of the other big names synonymous with the Territory on The List is the family business was started by pearling pioneer Nicholas Paspaley Snr in the 1930s after his family had arrived in Australia from Greece in 1919.
The Paspaley family fortune is now in the hands of executive chairman Nicholas Paspaley and is worth an estimated $1.12bn this year.
He oversees a business with interests in pearling, aviation, retail, pastoral, wine, commercial property holdings and other investments. While pearling
accounts for about half of the wider group’s 1200 employees, the industry makes up about 40 per cent of Paspaley Group’s annual revenue.
The family last year opened the luxury Wall Street Hotel in New York and also owns luxury apartments it rents out in Aspen.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart tops the The List this year with a fortune of more than $30bn.
The 2023 edition of The List – Australia’s Richest 250 is published on Friday in The Australian and online at richest250.com.au.
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