REVEALED: COVID punts Qlders off national rich list
Several high-profile Queenslanders have been punted off the nation's rich list for the first time in decades as COVID-19 decimates businesses.
Flight Centre founders Graham Turner and Geoff Harris, and Corporate Travel Management's Jamie Pherous are missing from the Australian Financial Review's 2020 Rich List after the pandemic pushed the business to a stand still.
Last year Mr Turner was ranked 109 with a fortune of $852m while Jamie Pherous was ranked 160 with a fortune of $623m.
Their absence from the list has opened the door for new Queenslanders to join the nation's wealthiest 200 people.
Cathie Reid and Stuart Giles have built up a sizeable fortune in the pharmacy industry.
They are now among the richest people in the country, with a fortune of $550m, according to the Australian Financial Review's 2020 Rich List, which ranked them at 195 in its list of the 200 wealthiest people and families in the country.
The Brisbane couple sold their Epic brand last year and have offloaded most of their stake in the Icon Cancer Centre private hospital chain.
Also making their Rich List debut this year with an estimated fortune of $580m are Jiwan and Suman Mohan, the founders of Brisbane-based commodities trading company JK International.
Serial tech entrepreneur, Brisbane-based Bevan Slattery, the founder of Megaport, has also made the cut.
His fortune is worth an estimated $564m.
Mining heavyweight and politician Clive Palmer is the wealthiest person in Queensland, and the 8th richest in the country, according to the Rich List, with a fortune of $9.18bn, a spike of almost 125 per cent on last year due to ballooning iron ore royalties.
Brothers Peter, Andrew and Lex Greensill from Bundaberg, are the next wealthiest in the state, worth $2.13bn, up 76.2 per cent from $1.21bn last year.
The Greensills are a farming family but London-based Lex is a major player in global supply chain finance through his business Greensill Capital.
Toowoomba's Wagner family have lost a little bit of their wealth over the past year but are still worth $1bn, down from $1.1bn a year ago.
Brisbane builder Scott Hutchinson and family have scrapped into the Rich List rankings at 199.
The Hutchinsons are worth $545m, which is down a sizeable 30.2 per cent from last year's $781m, due largely to the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the construction industry.
Gina Rinehart and Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest were the nation's first and second wealthiest people - thanks to booming iron ore prices - while manufacturing magnate Anthony Pratt finished third.
Queenslanders in the AFR's Rich List
Clive Palmer
Resources: Owner of Mineralogy
Rank 8
$9.18bn (+124.6% from $4.09bn)
Peter, Andrew and Lex Greensill
Finance and agriculture: owners of Greensill Capital and Greensill Farming Group
Rank 38
$2.13bn (+76.2% from $1.21bn)
Bianca Rinehart
Resources: Director of Restore Hope Australia
Rank 39
$2.05bn (-43% from $3.61bn)
John Van Lieshout
Retail: Founder of Super Amart
Rank 45
$2.04bn (-18.7% from $2.51bn)
Bob Ell
Property: Founder of Leda Holdings
Rank 47
$198bn (+7.6% from $1.84bn)
Bruce Mathieson
Investment: Co-founder ALH Group
Rank 63
$1.54bn (+3.3% from $1.32bn)
Chris Wallin
Mining: QCoal founder
Rank 70
$1.43bn (-23.9% from $1.88bn)
Mana Sinnathamby
Property: Springfield City Group chairman
Rank 76
$1.35bn (+6.5% from $1.27bn)
John Richards and Family
Waste manager: Owner of JJ Richards
Rank 86
$1.19bn (+63.9% from $729m)
Reg & Hazel Rowe
Retail: founders of Supercheap Auto
Rank 88
$1.17bn (+6.7% from $1.1bn)
Sam Chong
Resources: Founder of Jellinbah Group
Rank 91
$1.12bn (-9.7% from $1.24bn)
Trevor Lee
Agriculture: Founder of Lee Group/Australian Country Choice
Rank 100
$1.02bn (+45.4% from $7.05bn)
Denis Wagner and family
Construction: Wagners
Rank 102 $1bn (-8.7% from $1.1bn)
Gordon Fu and family
Property: Founder of YFG Shopping Centres
Rank 106
$992m (-4.06% from $1.04bn)
Trevor St Baker
Energy: Vales Point power station owner
Rank 149
$699m (+8% from $647m)
Peter Hughes and family
Agriculture: Hughes Pastoral Group owner
Rank 151
$694m (+37.2% from $506m)
Kevin Seymour
Property: Founder of Seymour Group
Rank 163
$662m (-13.8% from $768m)
T erry Peabody
Investment: Founder of Transpacific
Rank 167
$644m (-1.7% from $655m)
Don McDonald & family
Agriculture: MDH Pty Ltd owner
Rank 169
$639m (returning to the list)
Jiwan & Suman Mohan
Agriculture: Founders of JK International
Rank 186
$580m (debut)
Bevan Slattery
Technology: Founder of Megaport
Rank 190
$564m (debut)
Cathie Reid and Stuart Giles
Healthcare: Founders of Epic Pharmacy Group and Icon Cancer Centres
Rank 195
$550m (debut)
Scott Hutchinson and family
Construction: Chairman of Hutchinson Builders
Rank 199
$545m (-30.2% from $781m)
Originally published as REVEALED: COVID punts Qlders off national rich list
