While some assets are solely in Cannon-Brook's name, such as the Dunk Island resort in Queensland, it seems unlikely that she will not get at least some of her Atlassian shares, which make up the bulk of the couple's fortune, in the divorce proceedings, although she would likely not receive the voting rights that come with those shares.
Kim Jackson, wife of Atlassian's other co-founder, Scott Farquhar, also made her first appearance on this year's list of rich women.
This has nothing to do with a separation — the two are by all accounts very close — but it is an acknowledgement of Jackson's role as co-founder of Skip Capital, a family office that reinvests the proceeds from Farquhar's ongoing sales of Atlassian shares.
According to Street Talk, in addition to building a venture capital portfolio, Jackson's experience as a former investment banker will no doubt help Skip acquire a 19.9% stake in Australian Securities Exchange-listed Genex Power as part of the acquisition, and will also help the company as it teams up with private equity fund KKR to take over Queensland Airports.
Canva co-founder Melanie Perkins came in at No. 5 on this year's list with a net worth of $6.8 billion, half of the fortune she made with her husband, Cliff Obrecht.
Melanie Perkins plans to donate most of her fortune to charity.
Canva is currently in the midst of a massive $1.5 billion secondary stock sale that values the company at $26 billion, and at that price, early investors are thinking it could be a good deal for new buyers.
Perkins, who has always been uncomfortable with her billionaire status, and her husband and co-founder Cliff Obrecht, plan to give most of their fortune to charity through the Canva Foundation.
“Canva has a two-phase plan. Phase one is to build one of the most valuable companies in the world – and we continue to make progress towards that goal – and the crucial second phase is to use that value to do as much good as we can,” she says.
“For us, a crazy big goal is one that is big and seems impossible. Lifting people out of extreme poverty is one such goal.”
“We believe that no one should live on a planet where our most basic human needs — food, clean water, basic health care, shelter and safety — are not met. It's terrible that that is currently the reality. We sincerely want to see change in our lives and will work toward that goal for the rest of our lives.”
Pop star Kylie Minogue rounds out this year's list of richest women, tying with mother-daughter duo Leslie and Elise Gillespie of Baker's Delight at the bottom with a net worth of $130 million. Her fortune grew by $30 million last year, thanks to the success of her Grammy-winning single “Padam Padam” and a residency in Las Vegas.
“Stop apologizing” for asking for more
The biggest movers on this year's list of richest women are sisters Nicole and Simone Zimmermann, who sold 70% of their eponymous fashion brand to US private equity giant Advent International in August last year. The deal valued the Zimmermanns at $1.75 billion. The sisters' fortunes are now estimated at $361 million each, rocketing them to 16th place on this year's list.
The biggest drop was Megan Wynn, founder of employment services group APM, who dropped nine places to 44th. Wynn's share price drop was triggered by the company suffering from falling revenues due to falling unemployment and expectations of lower fees following an overhaul of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
APM's shares have risen 108 percent this month on the back of the recent takeover bid, but are still down nearly 30 percent from the same time last year. The market for public offerings, acquisitions and venture capital fundraising has been relatively sluggish over the past 12 months, and this year's list of wealthy women hasn't seen many new faces.
Falling just short of the $130 million cut-off are the likes of Zoe Foster Blake, who reclaimed a majority stake in her beauty business, Go-To, when BWX collapsed, buying back shares for a fraction of its estimated market capitalization. Similarly, Colleen Costello, co-owner of Crown Point Pastoral, one of the country's largest landowners, along with her husband, Donnie Costello, just missed out on making the top 75.
Cathy Reed says women should stop apologizing when asking for a raise.
Cathy Reed, the former owner of Icon Group, who came in 54th on this year's list with an estimated net worth of $308 million, is one of the few women on the list who is comfortable talking about their wealth, and she'd like to see that change.
“Talking about money is important, and I'm glad to see groups of women having investor clubs instead of book clubs. I'm not against books, but I think talking about your stock portfolio over a glass of wine is much more valuable,” she says. “This kind of thing is a great way to get comfortable talking about money, which can translate into salary negotiations.”
Reid acknowledges he's making broad generalizations, but says that from his experience running an oncology company, men are more comfortable stating their worth in salary negotiations.
She wants to change that: “When you apologize for why you think you deserve more, it sets the tone for how the request is received,” she says.
“If you're more confident and state your values and why you value them, people won't necessarily give you what you want, but your opinion will be heard in a different way.”
The proliferation of online tools to help with stock investing has made it easier than ever for women to start building an investment portfolio, she said. “You don't need a lot of money to get started.”
Reid is a strong advocate for women in business but disputed recent gender pay gap figures released by the Office of Workplace Equality, saying they did not accurately represent the reality of pay discrimination.
“Transparency is a great thing because it creates discussion and dialogue, but it has to be accompanied by accuracy,” she says. “It's not like we're saying men and women are doing the same job and we pay the men 20 percent more.”
“I'm used to being the only woman in the room.”
Of the 75 women on the Rich Women list, 38 are considered self-made, including Carol Schwartz of the Trawala Group, who ranks 59th with an estimated net worth of $266 million.
Powerful investor Carol Schwartz says there's still progress to be made when it comes to gender equality. Lindsay Goldberg
Schwartz said she was used to being the only woman in a room when she started her career, and although the business environment has changed a lot, there is still progress to be made when it comes to gender equality.
“When I was starting out as a lawyer in the late 1970s, women were moving into non-commercial law areas such as family law and litigation, and there were very few women working in commercial law,” she says.
“My professional life led me into the real estate industry, mainly working in shopping centres. I was in my early 30s at the time and would always be the only woman when I went to meetings.
“Things have certainly changed, but it's not enough. There are still not enough women in senior roles.”
Schwartz hopes that family dynamics and societal norms will evolve enough over the next decade to change this.
“All the stereotypes that have been held up until now about who needs flexibility at work, who contributes more in a home environment, who takes the lead role in the family, all of these have to change,” she says.
Sarina Russo's employment, training and education company, Sarina Russo Group, has maintained revenues of more than $100 million despite Australia's low unemployment rate, which has helped deal a big hit to the valuation of fellow rich list member Megan Wynne's ASX-listed company APM.
Sarina Russo bought her first property for $40,000 and still owns it today.
Thanks in part to her vast property holdings across New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, Russo ranks 59th on this year's list of richest women with a net worth of $271 million.
She bought her first property for $40,000, which she still owns, and which she reckons is now worth about $1.3 million. Similarly, she bought her first high-rise, at 82 Ann Street, Brisbane, for less than the price of an apartment today.
“I've always loved real estate. My father was buying properties when I was a kid, but he didn't speak English so I was the landlord for him,” she said.. “There's nothing better than walking past a building. [you own]. “
Russo has only sold property once before, a decision he now regrets.
As a child, she was told she would fail grade 12, even though she had been doing her father's taxes since she was 10. She says her biggest motivation was believing in herself.
“They told me I was a failure, but deep down I knew that was just their opinion.”
List ratings were determined in early March and are based on the Rich List team's best guesses based on publicly available information.
