Australian billionaires listed: Sam Arnaout and Edward Craven among lesser known

The number of Australian billionaires has continued to grow, with pub barons, crypto gambling tycoons and gas station owners among the new arrivals.

The country is home to a record 139 billionaires, with mining magnate Gina Rinehart topping the list with a net worth of $44.33 billion.

Having made their fortunes in a range of different and highly lucrative industries, several lesser-known faces are among the new additions.

Many have made their fortunes from humble beginnings, while others have continued to build on the foundations laid for them by their families.

Here are the latest billionaires on the Australian newspaper’s list of the richest 250.

Sam Arnaout

Pub baron Sam Arnaout is worth an estimated $2.3 billion.

He is the chief executive officer of IRIS Capital with more than 30 pubs and 20 hotels to his credit.

Steyne Hotel in Manly, on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, and Wisemans Ferry Inn Hotel along the Hawkesbury River, in NSW, are among his best-known establishments.

He bought the Lasseters Hotel in Alice Springs for $105 million in 2021, making him the largest employer in the Northern Territory.

Mr. Arnaout continued to spend money when he bought Canberra Casino in the ACT in 2022 for $63 million.

His billionaire status is rooted in humble beginnings with Mr. Arnaout, the son of refugees from Lebanon’s civil war.

Edward Craven

Online gambling mogul Edward Craven is worth an estimated $2.01 billion.

Mr. Craven and his business partner Bijan Tehrani are the brains behind cryptocurrency casion and sports book Stake.com.

He built his real estate portfolio after buying a mansion in Melbourne’s Toorak for $38 million in March 2022.

Mr Craven dropped another $88m on a home in St Georges Road, in the same suburb, months later in August.

The unfinished home had been vacant for more than three decades, earning the property its name of “haunted house.”

Mr Craven broke the city’s previous record sale of $52.5 million paid earlier in 2018 for Stonington Mansion in Malvern.

He was thought to be the mysterious billionaire who tipped a waitress $10,000 in Gilson in Melbourne’s South Yarra in February – but his reps have denied it was him.

Terry and Arthur Tzaneros

Logistics operators Terry and Arthur Tzaneros are a father and son duo worth an estimated $1.56 billion.

The father and son duo started ACFS Port Logistics in 2005, generating approximately $300 million in revenue each year.

Their company makes $85 million a year before taxes and depreciation and employs more than 1,100 people nationwide.

Terry and his wife Anne own one of the most expensive homes in Sydney after purchasing a mansion in Point Piper for nearly $40 million in 2021.

Their son Arthur also bought a luxury home in nearby Vaucluse for $32 million the same year.

Nick Andrianakos and family

Gas king turned real estate investor Nick Andrianakos has a net worth of $1.30 billion.

Andrianakos comes from humble beginnings having moved from Greece to Melbourne in 1966.

He bought his first gas station in 1973 and went on to create the Milemaker chain, making him one of the largest gas station owners in the city.

He sold his chain to Caltex for $94 million in 2016, but retained ownership of the gas stations.

Mr Andrianakos has expanded into retail after acquiring a half stake of more than $135 million in Adelaide’s Colonnades shopping center in 2022.

The multi-million dollar purchase contributed to his $175 million purchase of Adelaide Tower, on Flinders Street, in 2020.

Johnny and Markus Kahlbetzer

Johnny and Markus Kahlbetzer are brothers who are worth $1.30 billion together.

Their father John made the family fortune as a rural landowner in Argentina and Australia.

They were once one of the largest owners and operators of large agricultural land in Australia under their company Twynam Agricultural Group.

Their land would be used to produce grain, cattle, wool, cotton, rice, and citrus.

His sons began selling the assets in the 2000s.

Markus has moved into real estate development and technology.

He is the CEO of BridgeLane Group, a private wealth management company founded by Markus in 2009.

Johnny will remain the COO and CEO of Twynam Agricultural Group.

Charles Gibbons

Financial services firm Charles Gibbon is worth an estimated $1.19 billion.

He is the founder of Shearwater Growth Equity and chairman of WiseTech Global.

Mr. Gibbon has a long history in the financial services industry having served as a director of Monbeef and Photolibrary and CEO of Russell Private Equity.

Greg Coffee

Identity investment firm Greg Coffey has a net worth of $1.12 billion.

He made his fortune in London’s Gerson Lehrman Group through his money-making talents, earning him the nickname ‘Wizard of Oz’.

Mr. Koffey retired at the age of 41, but returned to investing ten years later.

His real estate portfolio includes a $105 million home in the Hamptons and a multi-million dollar mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Peter Freeman

Microphone businessman Peter Freedman has a net worth of $1.10 billion.

His company Freedman Electronics sells his very popular Rode microphone brand all over the world.

Mr. Freedman is a high school dropout who had to interrupt his studies to help his father after he fell terribly ill.

The successful businessman now generates a whopping $300 million a year in annual revenue.

Kim cannon

Mortgage lender Kim Cannon is worth an estimated $1.08 billion.

He runs Firstmac, one of the nation’s largest non-bank mortgage lenders.

The company has 60,000 clients and manages a $16 billion loan portfolio.

Christian Beck

Software engineer Christian Beck is worth $1.03 billion.

He is the brain behind LEAP Legal Software and the search engine Infotrack, a program that provides services to the legal profession.

His rise to billionaire status is all the more impressive as Mr. Beck taught himself how to code.

He has worked in law firms for over 10 years and managed to combine his coding experience to create his highly profitable programs.

Ian Malouf

Waste management king Ian Malouf has a new value of $ 1.03 billion.

He founded Dial-a-Dump in 1984 and built his company into a $577 million empire that he eventually sold to Bingo Industries in 2021.

Mr Malouf maintains waste property in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and he has diversified his business empire.

He rents out a collection of boats through his Ahoy Club superyacht charter.

Huang Binwen

Manufacturer Huang Bingwen has a total fortune of $1.02 billion.

He has made his fortune in his manufacturing company Shantou Dongfeng Printing.

The company manufactures paper packaging for tobacco and other companies in China.

Mr Bingwen purchased a $60 million luxury mansion in Point Piper, Sydney’s eastern suburbs, in 2016.

Rod spoonbill

Real estate mogul Rod Spooner just entered the list of billionaires with a new net worth of exactly $1 billion.

His family owns Melbourne’s Caribbean Park, a commercial district consisting of hotels, restaurants, gyms and an office park.

The Spooner family had acquired 300 acres of land in Scoresby in 1945 and the area became the highly profitable commercial district it is today.