Andrew Forrest takes $1bn wealth hit as billionaires pay a hefty price

Many of Australia’s wealthiest people, including Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest, saw the value of their shareholdings plummet on Monday.

Fortescue chairman Andrew Forrest Picture: Marie Nirme

Australia’s richest people lost more than $1.5bn from the value of their shareholdings on Monday, during some spectacular falls among ASX-listed stocks.

Billionaire Andrew Forrest, the chairman of Fortescue Metals Group, had about $1.05bn wiped from the value of his shares in the iron ore miner alone, only a week after he had shelled out almost $250m to increase his stake.

Fortescue was among some of the biggest falls for stocks held by members of The List — Australia’s Richest 250, taking a 10 per cent tumble as the market plunged after a dramatic fall in the oil price led to the biggest daily drop in more than a decade.

The 7.4 per cent fall on the All Ordinaries Index was the largest decline since the global financial crisis, which began in 2008.

While Mr Forrest’s stake was the biggest faller in dollar terms, John Grill’s WorleyParsons had the biggest decline in percentage terms. Shares in the engineering services firm fell almost 18 per cent, wiping about $75m off the stake held by Mr Grill, Worley’s founder and chairman.

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Billionaire Richard White, the founder of logistics software firm Wisetech Global, was another to experience a big fall. His shares were down about $150m in value by the end of trading on Monday.

Alan Wilson, of plumbing supplier and retailer Reece Group, saw his and his family’s shares fall by about $130m, while James Packer’s stake in Crown Resorts finished the day down about $125m after shares in the gambling and entertainment company fell by more than 6 per cent.

It was a similar story across many sectors, including shares in the fund manager and market darling Magellan Financial Group. Its billionaire co-founder Hamish Douglass, a long-time believer in Chinese-related stocks, had $95m wiped off the value of his shares after Magellan stock fell about 8 per cent.

The shareholdings of Afterpay co-founders Anthony Eisen and Nick Molnar fell by a similar level after their buy now, pay later company experienced a 16 per cent price drop.

Solomon Lew lost about $60m from the value of his Premier Investments Group, and even saw his stake in Myer fall by 7 per cent after it had been one of the rare companies on the ASX to rise during morning trading. But after hitting a 30c high, Myer shares finished the day down 2c to 26c each.

Meanwhile, billionaire Chris Morris lost $45m from the value of his Computershare shares, Ruffy Geminder about $15m from his Pact Group stake and Andrew Abercrombie about $15m from his Flexigroup shareholding.

The property sector was also not spared, with Greg Goodman’s stake in industrial property powerhouse Goodman Group finishing the day down about $30m.