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Two millionaire businessmen have pulled a whopping A$1 billion profit through their discount retail stores, in the midst of a nationwide cost of living crisis.
In 2021, My Chemist Group owners Jack Gance and Mario Verrocchi sat at numbers 60 and 63 on the country's Rich list, bringing in A$1.82b and A$1.79b respectively.
This year, their fast-growing chain Chemist Warehouse, which has built a reputation for offering cosmetic, health and other goods at a discounted rate, enjoyed an increase in yearly revenue which has nearly doubled in the past 12 months.
The owners of the Chemist Warehouse have done very well for themselves. Photo / Warren Buckland
Despite the pandemic and current cost of living crisis, the chemist giant, owned by Mario Verrocchi and family, and Jack and Sam Gance and family, managed to bring in a gross profit of over A$1.07b last financial year with a total revenue of over A$3.07b.
In comparison, their profit from the 2021 financial year was significantly lower, coming in at just under A$670m, with a total revenue of A$2.42bn.
Sharing A$155m in dividends between the Verrocchi and Gance families, the retail giant now employs more than 17,000 staff for its 500 stores across Australia.
New stores in New Zealand, China and Ireland also opened this year.
But it isn't just the success of the pharmacy stores that has the chief executive of the business sitting financially pretty.
Head of the Chemist Warehouse Group Mario Verrocchi made headlines in May after he sold a 45 hectare "farm" for more than A$60m, joint-owned among members of the Verrocchi family.
The plot, at Ballan Rd, Manor Lakes in Melbourne's west, was sold by several members of the Verrocchi family reportedly to developer Central Equity.
The land has begun selling in as part of an estate called Parkbrook.
On top of this great financial gain, the Verrocchis purchased a paradise on Earth in late 2020.
Adding to his property portfolio – which includes the "Downton Abbey of Australia" Morning Star Estate – Verrocchi paid a lot more than the average homebuyer for his new home.
The Morning Star Estate, bought for more than A$40m.
The magnificent property was purchased in September 2020 for a whopping A$40m.
The estate, which includes a 12 hectare vineyard and a helipad, along with the 1860s Victorian mansion, was placed under caveat by Verrocchi.
The property's agent, Michael Keating, told the Herald Sun in 2020 the "buyer was planning to have the property for his family".
"There is nothing else like it in Australia. You've got 157 acres (63ha) with beach frontage, less than an hour from a capital city that's soon to be Australia's largest. It's a no-brainer," Keating said.
Evelynne and Jack Gance. Photo / news.com.au
If the dazzling property looks familiar, that's because the Verrocchis bought a similarly magnificent residence in 2015.
Purchased from the Smorgon family heirs, Norman and Tania Smorgon, Fiona Verrocchi, Mario Verrocchi's wife, reportedly paid $19.25m.
But Verrocchi's business partner is just as successful, alongside his wife Evelynne Gance.
Gance had qualified as a pharmacist in 1967 before buying his first chemist, but found an opportunity with Verrocchi to bring a more retail focused chemist store to the Australian people.
The property in Toorak owned by Jack Gance. Photo / news.com.au
He also has a very impressive property portfolio, having spent at least $30m on not one, but two Toorak properties in 2019.
Gance also received permission to knock one down, and in doing so, would have created a massive 4260 sqm block in the priciest suburb in Melbourne.
The 1925 residence has six bedrooms, a marble foyer, library, heated swimming pool, tennis court and much more.
