- The AFR Young Rich List has once again been topped by Canva’s Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht — though that’s not to say 2024 was entirely “business as usual.”
- LMCT+ and “Lambo Guy” of The Block notoriety, Adrian Portelli, has climbed above several heavyweights, including Afterpay co-founder Nick Molnar.
- This represents the 21st edition of AFR’s Young Rich List.
Following its previous edition, the 2024 AFR Young Rich List has provided another genuine surprise.
A year after making his debut in the rankings as a legit billionaire, “Lambo Guy” Adrian Portelli (#6) has overtaken veteran Young Rich Lister and Afterpay co-founder Nick Molnar (#8).
Of course, Portelli founded the discount service and big-ticket giveaway business LMCT+. With around 100,000 members who pay between $20 and $100 monthly to access promotions and enter a consistent stream of draws for flashy prizes (e.g., mansions, cars). You can understand how he’s made a fortune.
While the paper value of LMCT+, which generates over $70 million in annual revenue, accounts for approximately 80% of Adrian Portelli’s net worth, the rest is owed to his sports car collection and property portfolio (residential and commercial). According to the AFR, he’s also been diversifying with investments in energy drinks and the Summernats event.
This does, however, come with an important caveat.
The net worth of Nick Molnar has become increasingly difficult to calculate since the $39 billion acquisition of Afterpay by Jack Dorsey’s Block — given it’s unclear how many shares the Aussie retains or has sold. So there’s every chance we’re only seeing the tip of the three-comma iceberg with his personal $1.14 billion valuation.
Molnar remains employed at the fintech giant, where he was promoted to Head of Sales just a few months prior.
Outside of the Top 10, which has yet again been led by Canva power couple Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht (quite significantly, might we add), the 2024 AFR Young Rich List features other familiar household names.
From athletes such as Ben Simmons (#20), the recently-dismissed Daniel Ricciardo (#32), and Cameron Smith (#38); to Hollywood multihyphenate Margot Robbie (#31) and Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker (#99), it’s a certifiable who’s who of homegrown achievement.
Check it out below.
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AFR Young Rich List (2024)
#1. Melanie Perkins & Cliff Obrecht (Tech) — $14.01 billion
Canva | Co-Founders, CEO, & COO
Age: 37 & 38
“The wealth estimate for the co-founders of graphic design platform Canva is back up, in line with improved multiples and sentiment across a technology sector that had nosedived as interest rates shot up. Founded by the married Perth pair in 2012, Canva now claims more than 185 million monthly active users. The meal ticket for a whole generation of Australian venture capitalists, most notably early investor Blackbird Ventures, Canva is now itself in the start-up backing game, buying feted AI image generation business Leonardo this year. A Nasdaq listing for Canva, most recently valued at $39 billion, is expected within the next 18 months.”
#2. Ed Craven (Gambling) — $4.77 billion
Stake.com | Co-Founder
Age: 29
“One of the most controversial Young Rich Listers, Craven founded Stake.com alongside Bijan Tehrani in 2017. The Melbourne-based company processes hundreds of billions of bets on sports, virtual table games and online slot machines. The co-founders met playing online fantasy game RuneScape a decade ago and now employ more than 300 people. In 2022, Stake generated almost US$2.6 billion in revenue. While his casino is banned in Australia, that hasn’t stopped Craven promoting it to Australians via live-streaming platform Kick. While the company is domiciled in the Caribbean, it runs out of Melbourne.”
#3. Sam Prince (Retail / Health Care) — $1.55 billion
Zambrero | Founder
Age: 40
“The founder of the Zambrero chain of Mexican quick-service restaurants claims he doesn’t pay much attention to rival Guzman y Gomez. However, the $4 billion market cap that Guzman has achieved since listing on the ASX in June can’t have escaped Prince’s notice, not least because at 210 restaurants, Guzman is smaller than Zambrero – which just opened its 300th. Last year, Prince – who hails from Canberra but now lives in New York – sold about 25% of Zambrero to Europe’s Metric Capital Partners, which is now working on plans for 1,000 of the burrito slingers worldwide. Zambrero donates a meal to the needy for every dish it sells – a gesture inspired by the poverty-stricken upbringing of Prince’s mother in Sri Lanka.”
#4. James & Robbie Ferguson (Tech / Gaming) — $1.71 billion
Immutable | Co-Founders
Age: 32 & 27
“Brothers Robbie and James co-founded Immutable alongside fellow Young Rich Lister Alex Connolly (No.58). Immutable runs a blockchain platform for third-party games and non-fungible tokens that allow players to own and trade their in-game purchases. The company’s IMX tokens are still trading well down on their peak price achieved in 2022, but have doubled in value since this time in 2023, leading to higher valuations for the co-founders. Immutable also has been investing in so-called web3 gaming firms. In March, it launched the US$100 million Inevitable Games Fund alongside King River Capital.”
#5. Jack Zhang (Tech / Financial Services) — $1.34 billion
Airwallex | Co-Founder & CEO
Age: 39
“Zhang is the CEO of fintech company Airwallex, which he founded in 2015 alongside Jacob Dai (No.9), Max Li (No.10), Lucy Liu, and Ki-Lok Wong. The largest shareholder of all the founders, Zhang is the main spokesman for the business today. They started out providing a cheaper, faster way to make cross-border payments, but its services have expanded to include bank accounts, borderless cards (provided in partnership with Visa), online payments acceptance, and a suite of application programming interfaces. Revenue for the year ending December 31, 2023, hit US$60.7 million. This was only slightly higher than 2022 and the company flipped from a US$17.6 million profit to a US$11.4 million loss.
#6. Adrian Portelli (Gambling) — $1.29 billion
LMCT+| Founder
Age: 35
“Portelli has become famous for his ostentatious, Lamborghini-loving lifestyle, but his fortune is built on the arcane concept of trade promotions. The people who pay his LMCT+ business at least $20 a month to be part of its club are given access to discounts from its retail partners, but the real drawcard is its flashy giveaways of luxury cars, or houses, which Portelli has bought from The Block auctions. The promotions have been winners for LMCT+, which has 600-plus merchants, generates more than $70 million a year in revenue, and has around 100,000 members. Portelli is also diversifying, investing in energy drinks and even the Summernats revhead event, as well as having commercial property assets.”
#7. Robert Chamberlain (Travel) — $1.22 billion
Huno Group | Founder
Age: 40
“Travel entrepreneur Chamberlain began working on his first travel comparison and booking website, AirfaresFlights.com.au, in 2003 while studying for an IT degree at University of Sydney. Last financial year, his company Huno Group generated more than $186 million in revenue, up 25%, and $70.8 million in net profit – a margin many in the industry would find enviable. Chamberlain owns 98% of the company, with family members owning the other 2%. The company also holds residential property assets in Australia and a portfolio of listed and unlisted equities, primarily in the travel and technology sectors.”
#8. Nicholas Molnar (Tech / Financial Services) — $1.14 billion
Afterpay | Co-Founder (plus Head of Sales at Block)
Age: 34
“The net worth of Molnar, the co-founder of Afterpay, is one of the trickier valuations to calculate each year, with very little known about how many shares the fintech entrepreneur has sold or held on to in Block. What we do know for sure is the $39 billion price tag that Molnar and his co-founder Anthony Eisen secured for Afterpay when it was bought by Jack Dorsey’s fintech giant looks like a stellar deal. Molnar remains employed at Block and in August was promoted to Block’s head of sales, making him responsible for getting its flagship digital wallet Cash App, Square and Afterpay picked up by more merchants and consumers.”
#8. Jacob Dai (Tech / Financial Services) — $898 million
Airwallex | Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer
Age: 39
“Dai co-founded Airwallex in 2015 alongside Jack Zhang (No.5), Max Li (No.10), Lucy Liu, and Ki-Lok Wong. Dai played a key role in the technical development of its payments platform and remains its chief technology officer today. Despite the contraction in the private tech market, Airwallex increased its valuation to US$5.5 billion in October 2022 when it raised an additional US$100 million. The company has now surpassed $100 billion in annual processing volume, while revenue for the year ending December 31, 2023, hit US$60.7 million. The company has gone from a US$17.6 million profit to a US$11.4 million loss. It will be Dai’s final year on the Young Rich List, having just scraped in for 2024 – he turns 41 on October 29.”
#10. Max Li (Tech / Financial Services) — $716 million
Airwallex | Co-Founder & Product Architect
Age: 40
“Li is one of the co-founders of fintech company Airwallex. Today, he is based in Hong Kong and is the head of design for the business which originated in Melbourne. He owns fewer shares than his fellow Airwallex founders on the Young Rich List. Li and Jack Zhang (No.5) had been running Melbourne’s Tukk & Co cafe in Docklands when they got fed up with exorbitant fees on small international payments. The co-founders started out providing a cheaper, faster way to make cross-border payments, but its services have since expanded to include bank accounts, borderless cards and online payments acceptance. Revenue for the year ending December 31, 2023, hit US$60.7 million. However, combined with reports of a string of executive losses and Zhang acknowledging the company has faced some cultural and HR challenges, a reduction in their estimated valuations was warranted.”
Check out the complete 2024 AFR Young Rich List (all Top 100 entrants).
