Rank 122
Andrew Forrest & family
16B
Mining
Perth
Australia
- Known by his schoolboy nickname "Twiggy," Forrest was a onetime stockbroker and keen amateur boxer.
- He once tried to make a living as an alpaca farmer and is a descendant of the first premier of the state of West Australia, Lord Forrest of Bunbury.
- Australia's biggest philanthropists, in 2023 he and wife Nicolai gifted shares worth nearly A$5 billion to their foundation.
- Andrew Forrest founded Fortescue Metals Group in 2003. It's an iron ore giant which is now transforming itself into a green energy powerhouse.
- Forrest chairs his Minderoo Foundation, a philanthropic outfit with an A$9.6 billion endowment, focussed on everything from gender equality to climate change to rebuilding Ukraine.
- In 2022, his privately held Squadron Energy paid an estimated A$4 billion for Australia's biggest wind energy company, CWP Renewables.
- Forrest has also promised to spend A$750 million on rebuilding Ukraine's energy and communications infrastructure.
- Forrest and his wife Nicola announced their separation in July 2023 after being married for more than three decades.