Australia's richest man Anthony Pratt's company has launched a major lawsuit against almost 70 workers in his packaging giant empire over claims of unlawful industrial action. Credit:Nic Walker His wealth, and that of Mr Triguboff and Mrs Rinehart rose a combined $7.5 billion thanks to Mr Pratt's continued success in the US, Mr Triguboff's domination of the Sydney apartments market and the rising iron ore price for Mrs Rinehart. "Money is a great scoreboard of success, or one of them," Mr Pratt told The Australian Financial Review when discussing his ascent to the number one position. "It's a great honour and I feel very fortunate that I'm in a position that I can build a business." Mr Triguboff, who was number one on the list last year, said Mr Pratt deserved to top the list. "He is doing a very good job and I am very impressed with him," the property magnate said.

Westfield supremo Frank Lowy is fourth on the list with $8.26 billion wealth, the same level as last year, while Glencore chief executive Ivan Glasenberg is fifth at $6.85 billion. While he lives in Switzerland, Mr Glasenberg has Australian citizenship after working for the resources trading giant in Australia as the head of Glencore's Asian coal commodity division in the 1980s. There are a record 60 billionaires on the Rich List this year, including Fortescue Metals Group chairman Andrew Forrest, who announced a huge $400 million donation earlier this week. Mr Forrest is sixth on the list with $6.84 billion wealth, ahead of Melbourne shopping centre magnate John Gandel at $6.1 billion at number seven.

Eighth is Hong-Kong based Hui Wang Mau, who holds most of his wealth in the Hong Kong-listed Shimao Property Group but has Australian citizenship after studying for an MBA at the University of South Australia in the early 1990s. His fortune is $6 billion. Rounding out the top 10 is Crown Resorts director and major shareholder James Packer, who has $4.75 billion wealth that is now mostly held in Crown shares, and Perth billionaire Stan Perron. Mr Perron, 94, is the oldest billionaire on the Rich List and has wealth of $3.9 billion. He has had a bumper 12 months with his Perron Investments making a net profit of $244 million in 2016 and holding $2.44 billion in net assets such as commercial property, airports and shopping centres. Total wealth of the Rich List is up to $233.1 billion, from $197.3 billion last year. The average wealth per person on the Rich List rises to a record $1.16 billion, up from $987 million in 2016. There are ten debutants, including 33-year old Owen Kerr. He is in position 200 with wealth of $342 million, from his stake in foreign exchange broker Pepperstone.