BRW - Rich 200

Property prices cool, stocks fall and the economy slows, yet the BRW Rich 200 add $11.85 billion to their combined wealth and six new billionaires emerge to take the total to 17. Remarkable. Even though business conditions are softening, Australia's richest 200 individuals increased their wealth by 16.57%, to $83.37 billion, for a staggering average wealth of $417 million.

You now need $110 million just to make the list, up $10 million from last year. This performance makes a mockery of claims in this column last year that the wealth of Australia's richest people had most likely peaked in the short term because of weakening investment markets. Perhaps that call was a year too early, or misguided altogether.

You can never underestimate the rich, because they have a knack for sniffing out opportunity. Just look at their performance in Western Australia and Queensland. The Sunshine State has its first billionaire and can boast nine out of 21 new entrants on the list. Markets are slowing, but that is usually when the super rich buy cheaper assets and lay the foundations for the next big jump in their wealth.

Thematic connections
A feature of this year's Rich 200 is the work of the renowned artist Graham Fransella. Selected works from Fransella's eau forte series appear on the cover and throughout the issue, providing a striking visual theme that connects our stories. Fransella's wonderful art seems to fit the Rich 200 on some levels. His subjects have been described as "ruthlessly pared down to a mere outline, stripped of personality yet carrying indications of primitive humanity". And the style of his etching process was described as "allowing serendipitous 'mistakes' to occur in a free and spontaneous manner". Perhaps the true appeal of the Rich 200 is not their success or wealth, but, as Fransella's work suggests, their imperfections and rough edges.

Love them or hate them
Like most magazines, BRW conducts regular research on what readers like, and it seems nothing polarises them more than the Rich 200. When asked what is their favourite part of BRW, many say the Rich 200 and our newer issue, the BRW Young Rich, published in September. I know of one reader who leaves the Rich 200 on his bedside table every night because his goal in life is to make the list, and each day he picks it up for motivation. Others readers even send pictures of their children - some of them infants - holding the Young Rich because they want their children "to get started in business early". Certainly the Rich 200 is quoted throughout the year by other publications and it is by far our largest-selling issue. Yet other readers hate the Rich 200. Some say it glorifies the wealthy, is repulsive in its tone, and is little more than pornography for capitalists.

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There is no easy explanation for the love-hate relationship with the Rich 200, but what is clear is that if Australia is to prosper in the 21st century it must encourage a new breed of entrepreneurs, build a much stronger entrepreneurial culture, and celebrate the result of their endeavours: wealth. We need more of our best and brightest to consider starting a business when they are young, rather than automatically going to university, before going into business much later in life. And we need to recognise entrepreneurs and the wealth and the jobs they create. But how far do we go? How do we encourage entrepreneurs, but avoid creating a culture where the only thing that matters is money, or a repeat of the 1980s, when shonky entrepreneurs were idolised. What are your views?

Thanks aplenty
I could devote this entire page to thanking those involved in the Rich 200. All staff across editorial, advertising, marketing, circulation, finance, customer service and technology work on the Rich 200, and some deserve special mention. Thanks first to BRW's deputy editor, Robert Skeffington, who is the driving forcing behind the Rich 200. Robert spends many months leading a team of researchers, commissioning stories and editing them, and checking the entries and wealth estimates. Thanks also to our production team, who produce the Rich 200 in parallel with the regular issues for the best part of a month.

Production manager Anna Wolf kept the hundreds of stories and entries in good shape, while production editor Tom Brentnall and chief copy editor Paul Watson led a team of sub-editors who tirelessly checked, rechecked and polished the stories in this issue. Art director Justin Garnsworthy created the look of this issue, supported by deputy art director Mike Innes and senior designer Ken Uchida, who laid out the entries at the back of the magazine. Pictorial editor Jessica Shapiro organised the pictures, helped persuade many reluctant "richies" to have their pictures taken, and took many herself - her portfolio of photos of Griffith in New South Wales is a feature of this issue. Thanks also to our Rich 200 researchers: Shayne Barnett, Timothy Delbridge, Melanie Dunn, Evan Theodorou, Dharmini Sivananthan, Michael Watts and Yvonne Zhang.

[ 200 rich dudes ]