Poorer Murdoch takes top spot on Aust rich list

Rupert Murdoch has regained the top spot in the annual BRW list of Australia's top 200 executives, even though the global financial crisis has eroded the value of executive stockholdings across the board.

In a year when the total wealth of executives in the list was more than halved, News Corp chairman Murdoch was first with A$3.38 billion ($4.21 billion), compared with A$7.9 billion last year, BRW magazine's third annual Rich Executive list found.

Andrew Forrest, last year's winner and chief executive of Fortescue Metals, came second as his shareholding was slashed 71 per cent to A$2.37 billion from A$8.4 billion.

Frank Lowy, founder and chairman of Westfield Group, rose to third with A$1.83 billion, pushing Crown executive chairman James Packer into fourth with A$1.54 billion. Murdoch was in top spot in the first list released two years ago. "The amazing thing is the vast amount of wealth that's been lost," BRW editor-in-chief Sean Aylmer said. The total share value of the list, made up of the 200 wealthiest executives drawn from Australia's top 500 public companies, fell by 54 per cent to A$20.3 billion from A$44 billion in 2008.

The decline reflected a slump in Australian shares, with the broad All Ordinaries index falling 42 per cent in the 12 months to the end of February.

Still, 13 executives managed to increase their wealth over the year, including Linc Energy managing director Peter Bond, who was 11th on this year's list. But former Babcock & Brown chief executive Phil Green and eight of his colleagues who were in last year's list didn't make the cut this time.

The financial crisis sent some companies under, with Babcock going into administration this month after its shares lost most of their value during 2008. The stock last traded at A32.5c before being suspended in January, having exceeded A$34 in June 2007.

Nine members of last year's list were Babcock executives, with Green at 29th with a shareholding of A$173 million and founder Jim Babcock at 20th with A$263 million. Neither work for the company any more.

Aylmer said it was also interesting that many of the high profile executives of some of the largest companies, such as BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers, didn't make the list, because their shareholdings were relatively small.

Women are still a rarity on the list of 200, with five female executives led by Computershare's executive director Penelope Maclagan, who was 24th with a holding worth A$114.8 million. The Rich Executive list will be published in today's edition of BRW magazine.

AUSTRALIA'S RICHEST EXECS

1. Rupert Murdoch, News Corp - A$3.38b
2. Andrew Forrest, Fortescue Metals - A$2.37b
3. Frank Lowy, Westfield Group - A$1.83b
4. James Packer, Crown - A$1.54b
5. Alan Wilson, Reece Australia - A$1.05b
6. Kerr Neilson, Platinum Asset - A$1.01b
7. Gerry Harvey, Harvey Norman - A$723.7m
8. Kerry Stokes, Seven Network - A$595.5m
9. John Grill, WorleyParsons - A$579.1m
10. Chris Morriss, Computershare - A$403m

- AAP