Page 18 - Forbes - Asia (October 2019)

ENTREPRENEURS

Harry’s

Game

Harry Triguboff, o see how Asia’s growing wealth is re-

Australia’s second-richest T shaping the global economy and creat-
ing enormous fortunes, consider the rise
person, has learned how of Australia’s second-richest man, Harry

to make money in up and Triguboff. The 86-year-old has amassed
down markets. his fortune by building approximately
10% of the country’s apartments—almost 80,000
dwellings. His privately held Meriton is Australia’s
BY CHRISTIAN BARKER
most prolific homebuilder, earning A$485 million
($332 million) in its latest fiscal year on sales of
A$1.8 billion, according to Australian Securities
and Investments Commission filings. Triguboff’s
ownership of Meriton, where he is managing di-
rector, gives him a fortune pegged at $10.7 billion.
Rising housing prices in key Australian
cities—up more than 50% from 2012 to 2017—
were driven in part by strong demand from
international investors, many of them from
Asia. Meriton was an early leader in marketing
Australian property to these buyers, with nearly
20% of its sales coming from nonresident Asian
buyers. “They like to buy the best they can afford,
where they can afford,” says Triguboff of his
customers from mainland China. “So that means
new. They will pay more for brand new, always.
They like brand new buildings.”

16 | FORBES ASIA OCTOBER 2019