Meet the youngest billionaires of Australia

Highlights

• Australia has emerging successful entrepreneurs in almost every field.
• Melanie Perkins and husband Cliff Obrecht, founders of Canva, are the richest youngsters in Australia.
• They are followed by entrepreneurs Sam Prince and Nicolas Molnar.

Author Jonathan Swift said that ‘a wise person should have money in their head, but not in their heart’. Entrepreneurship is definitely not easy. But if one has the commitment, drive, and courage, they can succeed in generating their own blossoming business. Replacing the hard work with smart efforts, are these young Australians who thought out of the box and have their names in the ‘Richie rich’ list of the country.  

Melanie Perkins & Cliff Obrecht- Co-founders of Canva

Wealth – AU$13.7 billion

Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht co-founded Canva, a graphic design platform principally used to create social media graphics and presentations.

Born in Perth, 35-year-old Melanie is the Chief Executive Officer of Canva. She is amongst the youngest female CEOs across the globe. Melanie majored in communication, psychology and commerce from the University of Western Australia and is a trained professional figure skater too. She ventured into the world of business when she was just fourteen. She used to sell scarves at shops and in markets in Perth. While in college too, she worked as a private tutor for students who wanted to learn graphic design. During these days she decided to convert this into a business opportunity. She dropped out of university when she was 19 and co-founded Fusion Books with Cliff Obrecht in 2007.

37-year-old Cliff Obrecht co-founded Canva with Melanie in 2013. He is the Chief Operating Officer of the company and has designed Canva. He holds the degree of Bachelor of Arts/ Science from the University of Western Australia. Cliff got married to Melanie in 2021.

Canva was valued at around AU$55 billion in 2022. Over 500,000 companies across the world are using this software design platform. The couple's valuation stands at AU$13.7 billion.

Sam Prince- Doctor, and restaurateur

Wealth – AU$1.2 billion

39-year-old Sam Prince is an Australian doctor and restaurateur. He is the founder of the Mexican franchise chain, Zambrero. Born in Scotland to Sri Lankan parents who later shifted to Australia, Prince studied medicine at Monash University. He founded a Mexican restaurant Zambrero in Canberra in 2005. Today, the restaurant has more than 200 outlets globally. Sam also owns Indu, Mejico and Kid Kyoto restaurants in Sydney.

Prince is also known for investing in healthcare, hospitality, technology, and consumer goods sectors.

Nicholas Molnar- Co-founder of Afterpay

Wealth – AU$1.2 billion

Aged 32, Nicolas Molnar is a finance and technology expert and co-founded the fintech firm Afterpay along with Anthony Eisen in 2015. They made the company public in 2016. During the Covid-19 pandemic, shares surged on the ASX. US-based payments firm Square acquired Afterpay in 2021 for AU$29 billion.

Nicolas pursued graduation in commerce from the University of Sydney. He ventured into business as a jewellery seller on eBay.

Ed Craven- Co-founder of stake.com

Wealth – AU$1.1 billion

27-year-old Ed Craven is known for building an online cryptocurrency casino stake.com in 2017. He also made news for spending AU$88 million for a 'ghost' mansion.

Craven co-founded stake.com along with Bijan Tehrani. The company is based out of Melbourne and is one of the biggest online casinos and betting shops. The firm exclusively deals in cryptocurrency. It claims that it has more than 100,000 registered players.

It takes determination, creativity, and courage to look beyond the status quo and generate next-gen offerings, while contributing to the momentum that will drive industries forward into the future, particularly in these uncertain times.