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Three Australian billionaires who have held on to their places on the country’s rich list for decades have shared their simple tips for getting rich and staying rich.
Every year The Australian publishes The List, a definitive ranking of the 250 richest people in the country and how they made their money. This year, the list participants were collectively worth a record $531.96 billion.
Three of the men at the top, all of whom made, rather than inherited, their fortunes, have shared their tips for making a motza.
‘Stay Alive’ – Jack Cowin, Hungry Jack’s
Speaking to Channel 9, Jack Cowin, fast food mogul and founder of Hungry Jack’s, said his best advice for getting on and staying on the rich list was to simply “stay alive and don’t make silly mistakes”.
The power of compound interest, Cowin explained, meant that increasing one’s fortune by just 10 percent each year could mean enormous wealth for a lifetime.
An entrepreneur needed to be part astronomer, part microbiologist, Cowin added, saying: “You have to have astronomer’s instincts, in that you have to look at the big picture: you’re looking at the stars, you have to know where the future is.” . , you have to know where the rocket is going. And the microbiologist is looking at the details through the microscope… The successful entrepreneur needs to do both.”
Cowin was the 22nd richest person in Australia in 2023, worth $4.21 billion, according to The List.
He started the Hungry Jack’s and KFC franchises after moving Down Under from Canada, relying on a $300,000 loan from a host of Canadian investors.
Cowin sold KFC 10 years ago, but retained 450 Hungry Jack’s stores that generated $1.77 billion in revenue last year.
Known as the king of fast food, he is also the president and major shareholder of Domino’s Pizza Enterprises, and the owner of Apache, a Houston-based service company for the oil and gas industry.
“Incentivize your employees” — John Van Lieshout, Super-A-Mart
John Van Lieshout, founder of the Super-A-Mart furniture chain, said he made and kept his fortune through generous staff rewards in which he decided to give store managers a significant portion of their profits.
“My freight costs went down because they were much more careful in negotiating with the transport companies,” he explained to Channel 9.
“My electricity bill went down because they turned off the lights earlier. There were all sorts of things where costs were reduced because suddenly the store manager had an interest in controlling every part of the business. People do a good job if they have an interest in what they are doing.”
However, Van Lieshout’s second piece of advice was to embrace risk, which he says is often the factor that differentiates employees from bosses.
“Every day I look at the professionals that work with me and I am amazed at how smart they are with financial things. Australia is full of talented people who should have their own business,” she said.
Van Lieshout was ranked 44th on The List in 2023, with a fortune of $2.7 billion. He started out working as a cleaner in a Brisbane furniture store, before founding one of the biggest players in the industry.
Van Lieshout sold Super-A-Mart to private equity in 2006, but retained ownership of the stores, building an impressive portfolio of properties.
“Think 10 years ahead” — Gerry Harvey, Harvey Norman
Gerry Harvey, of Harvey Norman fame, said his best advice was to “think 10 years ahead” of your competitors.
The Harvey Norman brand had 50 per cent of the fridge market share in 2023, he told Channel 9, saying: “What market share will we have 10 years from now? Who will be our opposition in 10 years? How will the refrigerators be sold? What will the new technology be? It just goes on and on and on.”
Harvey has long believed in owning as much property as possible, making it difficult for competitors to get the same kind of reach as Harvey Norman.
“We’ve just always worked on where the best site is, locating the best store there, locating the best sellers there, advertising that you have it, and making sure we do a better job than all the other retailers. You survive and they don’t,” she said.
Harvey co-founded Harvey Norman with his late business partner Ian Morna after the couple sold their previous business, Norman Ross, in the late 1980s. He now runs it with his wife Katie Page, with plans to grow the brand in Malaysia. .
Mr. Cowin, Mr. Van Lieshout and Mr. Harvey were all self-made, having made billions in cutthroat consumer-oriented industries. While the names on the rich list come and go each year, all three men have kept their spots.
The three men are among 139 billionaires named to The List in 2023. At the top of the scale was Gina Rinehart, worth $37.1 billion, closely followed by Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, worth $35.21 billion.
