Executive chair of Visy packaging business Anthony Pratt listed as second richest person in Australia on Forbes Australia Rich List

Elyse Blye

January 30, 2014 (AAP Australian Financial News) – Cardboard heir Anthony Pratt has leapfrogged gaming tycoon James Packer to become Australia's second richest person.

Gina Rinehart keeps the top spot on the Forbes Australia Rich List, with the iron ore queen's fortune climbing by a cool 804-million-dollars, or four per cent, to 20-point-3-billion in 2013.

Australia now has a record 30 billionaires, according to Forbes, when their fortunes are expressed in Australian dollar terms.

Pratt, who inherited the Visy packaging business from his late father Richard Pratt in 2009, was the biggest climber, leaping from seventh to second position as his family fortune grew by 36 per cent.

Media and mining equipment mogul Kerry Stokes was among those to fall down the list of Australia's top 50, with his estimated worth of 1-point-8-billion dropping him from 13th to 16th place.

The 73-year-old Seven West Media chairman lost an estimated 20 per cent of his fortune as demand for Caterpillar trucks tanked.

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