Only one IT entrepreneur makes Young Rich top ten

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 25 September 2008 10:10

Opinion and Analysis

Well, if you're a researcher that comes up with a good idea, commercialises it and then moves with the rest of the company you founded to California or Singapore, I suppose it doesn't make much difference.

But the Australian economy misses out on jobs (direct and indirect) and tax revenue. Maybe you can live in Silicon Valley for 25 years and still call yourself Australian, but if you're not paying Australian taxes, how are you repaying your country for its investment in your education and as a postgraduate researcher?

(To forestall any accusations of hypocrisy, I admit migrating to Australia for employment reasons immediately after completing a postgraduate degree in my native country - but I'd argue that gives me an insight to the problem rather than disqualifying me from comment.)

For years we've been told that Australia needs to be something other than a farm, a quarry, and an exotic holiday destination. But if we can't grow technology companies beyond a certain size, where does that leave us?

And returning briefly to the Young Rich List for a moment, it seems the rich really are getting richer. The total wealth of the 100 people on the 2006 list was $4 billion, in 2007 it was $4.8 billion, and this year it has soared to $6.03 billion.

Hedge funds and property were the source of wealth for six of the top ten, but with some of the shine going off both areas since the list was prepared, it might be a different story if the figures were recalculated.

Last year, the top ten included Richard Bell (founder and CEO of telco Reverse) and Paul Bassat (founder of employment website Seek).