There Are Now a Record Number of Billionaires—With Taylor Swift and 19-Year-Old Brazilian Heiress Livia Voigt Joining the List
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    HOUSE MEDIAN ASKING PRICES AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney $1,702,906 (-1.01%)       Melbourne $1,027,687 (-0.43%)       Brisbane $1,188,506 (-1.17%)       Adelaide $1,040,164 (-1.83%)       Perth $1,093,053 (-0.29%)       Hobart $848,961 (-0.09%)       Darwin $857,095 (-2.30%)       Canberra $982,629 (-1.33%)       National Capitals $1,151,606 (-1.04%)                UNIT MEDIAN ASKING PRICES AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney $794,268 (-0.20%)       Melbourne $545,029 (-0.01%)       Brisbane $775,077 (-0.34%)       Adelaide $575,261 (-0.26%)       Perth $641,686 (-0.65%)       Hobart $577,016 (+0.45%)       Darwin $463,462 (-0.22%)       Canberra $480,245 (-3.79%)       National Capitals $628,545 (-0.43%)                HOUSES FOR SALE AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney 13,829 (-23)       Melbourne 16,088 (-233)       Brisbane 9,659 (+311)       Adelaide 3,284 (+43)       Perth 8,149 (+103)       Hobart 705 (-20)       Darwin 165 (+3)       Canberra 1,168 (+13)       National Capitals 53,047 (+197)                UNITS FOR SALE AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney 9,436 (-87)       Melbourne 6,839 (-122)       Brisbane 2,104 (+7)       Adelaide 566 (+5)       Perth 1,567 (+10)       Hobart 161 (-6)       Darwin 222 (+1)       Canberra 1,230 (-9)       National Capitals 22,125 (-201)                HOUSE MEDIAN ASKING RENTS AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney $870 (-$5)       Melbourne $620 ($0)       Brisbane $700 (-$10)       Adelaide $670 (+$5)       Perth $750 ($0)       Hobart $613 (-$8)       Darwin $850 ($0)       Canberra $750 ($0)       National Capitals $739 (-$2)                UNIT MEDIAN ASKING RENTS AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney $840 (-$10)       Melbourne $630 ($0)       Brisbane $680 ($0)       Adelaide $560 (-$10)       Perth $700 ($0)       Hobart $538 (-$8)       Darwin $650 ($0)       Canberra $595 (-$5)       National Capitals $661 (-$4)                HOUSES FOR RENT AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney 6,441 (-57)       Melbourne 7,404 (-61)       Brisbane 3,528 (-127)       Adelaide 1,303 (-91)       Perth 2,272 (-1)       Hobart 230 (-17)       Darwin 47 (+6)       Canberra 474 (+4)       National Capitals 21,699 (-344)                UNITS FOR RENT AND WEEKLY CHANGE     Sydney 10,223 (-38)       Melbourne 6,146 (-118)       Brisbane 1,994 (-28)       Adelaide 409 (-9)       Perth 799 (-18)       Hobart 78 (+6)       Darwin 89 (+20)       Canberra 765 (+2)       National Capitals 20,503 (-183)                HOUSE ANNUAL GROSS YIELDS AND TREND       Sydney 2.66% (↑)      Melbourne 3.14% (↑)        Brisbane 3.06% (↓)     Adelaide 3.35% (↑)      Perth 3.57% (↑)        Hobart 3.75% (↓)     Darwin 5.16% (↑)      Canberra 3.97% (↑)      National Capitals 3.34% (↑)             UNIT ANNUAL GROSS YIELDS AND TREND         Sydney 5.50% (↓)     Melbourne 6.01% (↑)      Brisbane 4.56% (↑)        Adelaide 5.06% (↓)     Perth 5.67% (↑)        Hobart 4.84% (↓)     Darwin 7.29% (↑)      Canberra 6.44% (↑)        National Capitals 5.47% (↓)            HOUSE RENTAL VACANCY RATES AND TREND       Sydney 1.4% (↑)      Melbourne 1.5% (↑)      Brisbane 1.2% (↑)      Adelaide 1.2% (↑)      Perth 1.0% (↑)        Hobart 0.5% (↓)       Darwin 0.7% (↓)     Canberra 1.6% (↑)      National Capitals $1.1% (↑)             UNIT RENTAL VACANCY RATES AND TREND       Sydney 1.4% (↑)      Melbourne 2.4% (↑)      Brisbane 1.5% (↑)      Adelaide 0.8% (↑)      Perth 0.9% (↑)      Hobart 1.2% (↑)        Darwin 1.4% (↓)     Canberra 2.7% (↑)      National Capitals $1.5% (↑)             AVERAGE DAYS TO SELL HOUSES AND TREND       Sydney 36.5 (↑)      Melbourne 35.4 (↑)        Brisbane 37.5 (↓)     Adelaide 29.0 (↑)      Perth 42.3 (↑)        Hobart 30.9 (↓)     Darwin 30.1 (↑)        Canberra 34.3 (↓)     National Capitals 34.5 (↑)             AVERAGE DAYS TO SELL UNITS AND TREND       Sydney 33.6 (↑)      Melbourne 30.7 (↑)      Brisbane 36.2 (↑)      Adelaide 29.0 (↑)        Perth 39.0 (↓)       Hobart 26.4 (↓)     Darwin 33.1 (↑)      Canberra 38.9 (↑)      National Capitals 33.4 (↑)            
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There Are Now a Record Number of Billionaires—With Taylor Swift and 19-Year-Old Brazilian Heiress Livia Voigt Joining the List

By MICHAEL KAMINER
Fri, Apr 5, 2024 7:00amGrey Clock 3 min

For celebrities like Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Tiger Woods, and Steven Spielberg, fame is bringing fortune.

They’re among 14 performers, athletes, and entertainment moguls―along with Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, and Michael Jordan― on the 2024 Forbes World’s Billionaires List, which the media company released this week. The annual ranking “has seen an explosion in celebrity billionaires in recent years,” Forbes said in a statement.

Topping the roster of fortunes: LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault , with an estimated net worth of US$233 billion―up from US$211 billion last year. Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk ranked second, with a US$195 billion war chest, up from US$180 billion in 2023. Just a billion dollars short of second place, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos placed third with US$194 billion, or $80 billion more than a year ago.

LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault topped the list with an estimated net worth of US$233 billion.
Getty Images

Tech titans dominate the rest of the top 10, which includes Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg (US$177 billion), Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison (US$141 billion), Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett (US$133 billion), Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates (US$128 billion), former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (US$121 billion), Reliance Industries honcho Mukesh Ambani (US$116 billion), and Google co-founder Larry Page (US$114 billion.)

Swift made her debut on the list this year, along with 262 other “new billionaires” including shoe mogul Christian Louboutin, 19-year-old Brazilian heiress Livia Voigt, and NBA legend and entrepreneur Earvin “Magic” Johnson.

For Swift, worth an estimated US$1.2 billion, it’s the second star turn on a rich list this month. Last week, Swift made her first appearance on the 13th Hurun Global Rich Report, an annual survey from China-based media and research firm Hurun.

But the ultra wealthy had a very good year regardless of name recognition. The world now has more billionaires than ever, Forbes reported, with 2,781 in all. That adds up to 141 more than last year’s list, and 26 more than a record 2,755 billionaires set in 2021.

The richer are also richer, according to the list. Billionaires’ aggregate worth is now US$14.2 trillion, up US$2 trillion from 2023―and US$1.1 trillion above the previous record, also set in 2021, Forbes said.

A “flurry” of billionaires are getting rich through the AI “gold rush,” according to Forbes.

Taylor Swift made her debut on the list this year with an estimated US$1.2 billion.
Getty Images

“The poster child for all this is Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang ,” whose company’s stock surged 300% over the past year. Open AI CEO Sam Altman , who briefly lost control of his company last year, also made the list, owing to canny investments in his former role as head of VC firm Y Combinator.

The U.S. leads in billionaires, with a record 813 worth a total US$5.7 trillion. China ranked second, with 473 billionaires whose combined net worth is US$1.7 trillion. India set a record with 200 billionaires this year. Forbes said it calculated wealth using stock prices and currency exchange rates as of March 8. Two-thirds of the billionaires on the list emerged wealthier than a year ago; one-third have lost money.

Forbes’ list diverged from the Hurun rich list, where Musk reigned as the world’s wealthiest and Bezos and Arnault ranked second and third, respectively. The Hurun list was even richer, ranking 3,279 billionaires, up from 3,112 the previous year. The number of billionaires increased by 5% and their total wealth was up 9%, Hurun said.



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Australia’s Top 10 Finance Influencers of 2026

The voices reshaping how Australians think about money — and why credibility matters more than reach.

By Kanebridge News Editorial
Mon, Aug 3, 2026 6 min

The best financial advice many Australians are receiving right now is not coming from licensed advisers charging by the hour. It is coming through a phone screen, in the ten minutes between work and dinner, from creators who have built credibility the hard way: by being right, being transparent, and being specific in a space where vagueness has always been the easy default.

This is not a ranking by follower count. Follower count is a measure of distribution, not of quality. What follows is a ranking by substance — credentials, accuracy, community depth, and the quality of what an audience actually learns from following these accounts. The distinction matters, because the Australians acting on this content are making real financial decisions with real money.

1- Queenie Tan – Corporate Authorised Representative; Co-Founder & Director, Invest With Queenie & Billroo

There are finance influencers who talk about building wealth, and there are those who document it in real time with receipts. Queenie Tan belongs firmly in the second category. Starting from a $400-per-week income, Tan built her net worth past $1 million while publishing the actual numbers — income, savings rate, investment decisions — for an audience of more than 400,000 across platforms.

She is a Corporate Authorised Representative, co-founder of the personal finance app Billroo, and the author of a book that has become a practical reference for young Australians navigating ETFs, superannuation and property. What separates her from the crowded field of money educators is precision: she does not talk in principles when she can talk in percentages.

Photo: @investwithqueenie

2- Alan Kohler – Editor-in-Chief, Eureka Report; Editor-in-Chief, InvestSMART Group; ABC News finance presenter, host of Inside Business.

If Queenie Tan represents the new wave of personal finance creators, Alan Kohler represents something the new wave will spend decades trying to build: institutional credibility that has survived multiple economic cycles. As Editor-in-Chief of the Eureka Report and InvestSMART Group, and a decades-long presence on ABC News, Kohler has spent more than thirty years making financial analysis accessible without dumbing it down.

His coverage of RBA decisions, market movements and economic policy is cited by podcasters, journalists and fund managers alike. He is not chasing virality. He does not need to.

Photo: Alan Kohler

3- Aleks Nikolic – Corporate lawyer; host, Big Swinging Stocks podcast

Most finance creators address the mechanics of money. Aleks Nikolic addresses the psychology — and that distinction explains why her following is as loyal as it is. Operating as Broke Girl Wealth across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, Nikolic covers ETFs, crypto and investment strategy, but her real differentiator is a willingness to discuss the emotional architecture of financial decision-making.

Shame around debt. Fear around market volatility. The limiting beliefs that stop people acting on what they already know. In a space where confidence is routinely performed, her candour is a genuine competitive advantage.

Photo: @brokegirlwealth

4- Bryce Leske & Alec Renehan – Equity Mates Media

Equity Mates did not build a following. They built a media company. What began as a podcast by two friends learning to invest has grown into Australia’s most established investing media brand, covering ASX stocks, ETFs, global markets and fund manager interviews across podcast, social and YouTube.

The longevity is the credential. Equity Mates has operated through multiple market cycles, a global pandemic, and a generational shift in how Australians engage with investing — and its audience has grown through all of it. When the hosts speak, their listeners know they have been paying attention for years.

Photo: Equity Mates

5- The Lazy CEO – CEO & Founder, Showpo; Shark Tank Australia investor

The metric that matters most on social media is not followers — it is engagement, because engagement signals trust. Jane Lu, known as The Lazy CEO, maintains an engagement rate of approximately 1.15 per cent on Instagram, which is exceptional for a finance account of his size. Her 242,000-plus followers are not passive consumers: they ask questions, share experiences and apply what they read.

Her content focuses on business finance and wealth building, and the active comment sections are the clearest possible evidence that her audience does not merely scroll past.

Photo: @thelazyceo

6- Tash Invests – Founder, Tash Lends; Forbes Australia 30 Under 30

Tash Invests built her following on a premise that sounds simple but is rarer in practice than it should be: she publishes the actual numbers. Not approximations or ranges or anonymised case studies — her salary, her savings rate, her portfolio value, her net worth, updated and on the record.

Having bought her first property at twenty-two and grown her documented net worth past $1 million, she has become the primary reference point for young Australians trying to understand what building wealth on a moderate income genuinely looks like. The specificity is the product.

Photo: @tashinvests

7- David Scutt – APAC Market Analyst at StoneX Group

The authority of most finance social media content rests on research and reading. David Scutt‘s authority rests on having done the job. A former Treasury Dealer at Arab Bank and the Commonwealth Bank, former ASX Business Supervisor, and former Global Markets Editor at Business Insider Australia and anchor at ausbiz TV, Scutt now brings that direct market experience to his role as APAC Market Analyst at StoneX Group, rather than relying on secondary commentary.

When he discusses foreign exchange movements or ASX dynamics, it is not because he has read about them. It is because he has traded them.

Photo: David Scutt

8- Meddy Demars – Investing & crypto content creator

The gap Meddy Demars fills is specific and underserviced: connecting global macroeconomic events to the practical reality of Australian investors. When the US Federal Reserve adjusts interest rates, when inflation data moves, when commodity prices shift — most Australian finance content either ignores the local implications or translates them poorly.

Demars, operating across TikTok and Instagram from Sydney, does the translation well: explaining what global conditions mean for Australian stocks, savings rates and investment portfolios in terms that are accessible without being condescending.

Photo: Meddy Demars

9- Simran Kaur – Founder, Friends That Invest

Friends That Invest is arguably the most successful community-building exercise in Australian personal finance, and Simran Kaur is the reason why. The New Zealand-based creator — whose audience is predominantly Australian — built a podcast, a book and a social media presence around a single insight: that the personal finance world was not speaking to young women, and that the consequences of that gap were significant.

The measurable cultural shift that followed — women engaging with investing concepts in communities that had not previously existed — is the kind of impact that most financial literacy programmes aim for and rarely achieve.

Photo: @friendsthatinvest

10- Effie Zahos – Money Editor at 9News

Effie Zahos is one of Australia’s most recognised financial commentators, appearing regularly across 9News, A Current Affair, Today and Today Extra as 9News Money Editor. Her role puts everyday money questions, from mortgage rates to cost-of-living pressures, in front of a national broadcast audience.

Before television, she spent years as editor of Money magazine, building the editorial foundation for her current commentary. She is also Director and Money Commentator at InvestSMART, an ambassador for Canstar, and a published author, with her financial advice available in print as well as on screen.

That combination, decades of editorial experience, an active broadcast presence, and a body of published work, is what makes her commentary carry weight beyond any single platform or post.

Photo: @effiezahos

The common thread across this list is not follower count or platform presence. It is that each creator has built an audience willing to act on what they say, and for the Australians making financial decisions off the back of this content, that trust is the only thing that actually matters.

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