BUSINESS Australia s Richest 2019 In A Down Year Two Miners Break Back Into The Top 50 Forbes Guest Contributor Forbes Asia Contributor Group POST WRITTEN BY Lucinda Schmidt This article is more than 3 years old Clive Palmer during a press conference called to announce that he would not seek re election in the BY LUCINDA SCHMIDT Flamboyant mining mogul Clive Palmer is back with a bang He returns to the list of Australia s 50 richest for the first time since 2014 with an estimated fortune of 1 8 billion placing him at No 20 It s also his Jan 16 2019 04 45pm EST debut as a billionaire thanks to court ordered royalty payments from CITIC Pacific Mining s huge Sino Iron project in Western Australia This story is part of Forbes reporting on Australia s 50 Richest 2019 See full coverage here Coal baron Chris Wallin also returns to the list at No 41 bucking the trend that saw most mining fortunes fall While Gina Rinehart retains her position as the country s richest person her estimated net worth fell by 1 8 billion or 10 8 to 14 8 billion on faltering iron ore prices Likewise her four children led by eldest daughter Bianca Rinehart lost 1 9 billion or 38 of their combined estimated wealth the biggest drop in both dollar and percentage terms That pushed them down to the 11th spot from No 5 Overall 22 fortunes fell partly because of the Australian dollar s 8 7 drop against the U S dollar since the last Australian rich list in November 2017 Of the 23 fortunes that rose the biggest gain in dollar and percentage terms went to Atlassian founders Mike Cannon Brookes and Scott Farquhar up 3 billion each or 88 2 Their 6 4 billion fortunes put them in a tie for fifth place up five spots Australia s other tech billionaire WiseTech Global founder Richard White jumped 16 places to No 17 after his fortune swelled by 950 million or 76 to 2 2 billion The tech kings are 3 of 35 individual billionaires one fewer than our last list Just six women are billionaires from a total of seven on the entire list the same as in November 2017 Only one new entrant joined the list this year financial services whiz Michael Heine cofounder of investment platform Netwealth Since its November 2017 IPO Netwealth s share price has more than doubled placing Heine at No 50 on the list with an estimated fortune of 750 million And Computershare founder Chris Morris returns to the list at No 49 with 760 million after missing the 700 million cutoff last time Four depart the list including 96 year old property billionaire Stanley Perron who died in November and left the bulk of his 2 3 billion in assets to the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation Flight Centre founder Graham Turner property developer Tim Roberts and Chris Thomas founder of Adelaide based meat processor Thomas Foods fell below the 750 million cutoff METHODOLOGY The list was compiled using information from the individuals stock exchanges analysts private data bases government agencies and other sources Net worth numbers were based on stock prices and exchange rates as of the close of markets January 11 Private companies were valued by using financial ratios and other comparisons with similar companies that are publicly traded The estimates include a spouse s wealth and where the person is the company founder they also include the wealth of sons and daughters that s derived from that company In cases in which the fortunes of family members are based on the same company we combine these members into one listing as long as each of them has enough wealth to qualify for the list on his or her own Additional reporting on valuations by Kathleen Chaykowski James Dunn Antoine Gara Nicole Lindsay and Jennifer Wells Forbes Guest Editorial Standards Reprints Permissions ADVERTISEMENT