Thomas Food’s Chris Thomas makes South Australia’s rich list

The wealthiest South Australian oversees a food empire that is among the biggest private companies in the country.

The wealthiest South Australian, Chris Thomas, oversees a food empire that is among the biggest private companies in the country.

Thomas Foods International, started by Thomas in 1988 and now run by son Darren, had record sales revenue of $3.29bn last year - to make it the 14th largest private company by income in Australia.

The company’s size is big enough for Thomas and his family to have an estimated fortune of $2.27bn on this year’s edition of The List - Australia’s Richest 250, published by The Australian today.

Gina Rinehart tops The List with an estimated $46.34bn fortune, and is one of a record 170 billionaires (including joint entries).

Total wealth for the 250 names on The List this year reaches $689.52bn, and the average wealth is $2.76bn.

There are 19 new names, led by Wall Street identity Michael Dorrell. The co-founder of infrastructure investment business Stonepeak debuts in 13th position with estimated wealth of $13.54bn.

The youngest person on The List is Robbie Ferguson, 28, the co-founder of tech firm Immutable. The oldest is 101-year-old poker machine pioneer Len Ainsworth.

The cut-off to make The List sits at $635m, a mark reached by New York-based Rokt founder and chief executive, Bruce Buchanan.

These are the wealthiest South Australians this year.

Chris Thomas, $2.27bn

Strong global demand for Australian red meat and improved production volumes following the reopening of its Murray Bridge abattoir outside Adelaide helped meat processor Thomas Foods to a record year of sales and profit in 2024.

Revenue hit a record $3.29bn for the Thomas family business, which Thomas started in 1988 after buying what was a struggling abattoir plant in Murray Bridge.

Son Darren Thomas is now managing director and net profit last year reached about $185m.

Darren Thomas of Thomas Foods. Picture: Tom Roschi Photography

It has processing plants in South Australia, NSW and Victoria and offices and operations in the US, Asia and Europe and employs over 3000 people.

The company plans to ramp up its sales into China, the second biggest export market for Australian beef and veal after the US.

The Shahin brothers, $1.72bn combined

Late family patriarch Fred Shahin moved to Australia in 1984, having left Palestine in 1948 and then working for the United Nations in New York as an auditor.

He eventually settled his family in Adelaide, saw an ad to buy a BP service station and an adjoining home at Woodville, which formed the basis of what became the OTR Group.

Samer Shahin is one of three brothers who run the family’s business. Picture: AAP Image/David Mariuz

It grew to a business with 195 petrol and convenience stores and 31 stand-alone stores, and was acquired by ASX-listed Viva Energy in a $1.2bn deal finalised in March last year. Shahin’s sons Khalil, Samer and Yasser now own the family’s Peregrine Corporation, which has property and development interests and owns The Bend Motorsport Park outside Adelaide

Nick DiMauro, $1.40bn

DiMauro is showing no signs of falling out of love with commercial property, spending more than $215m in the past year on two shopping centres.

His Angaet Group last July paid Challenger Group $82.5m for Channel Court, one of Tasmania’s largest shopping centres, and then spent $128m on Adelaide’s Arndale Shopping Centre in October.

Nick DiMauro bought his first centre in 1995. Picture: Michael Marschall

The DiMauro family has more than $1bn of shopping centres and office blocks in South Australia, NSW, Western Australia, Queensland and New Zealand.

DiMauro bought his first centre in 1995, having moved to Australia from Italy in 1961. A former telegram boy for the old Postmaster-General, DiMauro started out as a plumber before running a small suburban delicatessen, and then buying residential blocks and small retail outlets.

Roger Drake, $761m

Annual revenue is nearing $1.3bn for the supermarket chain Drakes, which started with the purchase of a small three-lane shop in Adelaide’s Mitcham in 1974.

Drakes now has 66 stores across South Australia and Queensland and employs more than 6000 people.

It’s a far cry from the four employees Drake had at his first outlet, but staff are loyal. Drakes says it has almost 800 staff with 10 or more years’ service, with seven having dedicated more than 40 years to working in the business.

JP Drake at Drakes Wayville. Picture: Tom Huntley

More recently, son JP Drake has become the face of the business.
Beginning as a teenage trolley boy, JP Drake forged his way up the ranks, from nightfill to assistant manager and then state manager in Queensland, where he spent 10 years expanding the company’s turnover from $75m to $400m while sweating through 80-hour working weeks.

He has been back in Adelaide for 10 years and is now a director, answering to the company’s stalwart general manager, Bob Soang.

The 2025 edition of The List – Australia’s Richest 250 is published on Friday in The Australian and online at www.richest250.com.au