2012 BRW Young Rich List – eight standouts from a tech dominated year

The 2012 BRW Young Rich List has a strong start-up and tech flavor, with Atlassian founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar heading the rankings.

This year’s list is dominated by technology entrepreneurs, highlighting the incredible rise of the digital economy and the huge potential for new entrants.

Here are some of the standouts from this year’s Young Rich List:

1. Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, $480 million

The founders of enterprise software company Atlassian top this year’s list, beating mining magnate Nathan Tinkler.

Impressively, Cannon-Brookes and Farquhar are the first technology entrepreneurs to be ranked number one in the list’s 10-year history.

The duo started Atlassian in 2002 as graduates fresh out of university. The company now employs 530 people around the world and turned over more than $100 million last year.

In 2010, Accel Partners poured $60 million into Atlassian for a minority stake.

On the back of their phenomenal success, the founders have begun helping other Australian start-ups, regularly attending events to offer guidance.

2. Hezi Leibovich, $155 million

Hezi and his brother Gabby are the founders of group buying site Catch of the Day.

Founded in 2006, the group also includes Scoopon, Grocery Run and Vinomofo. In 2011, it turned over more than $250 million.

It has also attracted the interest of an investment consortium including James Packer, which invested $80 million for a 40% stake.

3. Ruslan Kogan, $145 million

Kogan, who is the richest entrepreneur under 30, is the founder of Kogan Technologies, Australia’s largest online electronics retailer.

In July, Kogan recorded more than $1 million in sales in a day for the first time. And in the past financial year, the company has doubled sales.

In addition to heading up Kogan Technologies, Kogan owns 50% of online furniture retailer Milan Direct with friend Dean Ramler.

4. Bevan Clark and Guy King, $75 million

After selling discount coupon site RetailMeNot.com in 2010, Clark and King made about $90 million. But they didn’t stop there.

The duo has kept busy, spinning their company Stateless Systems into three new businesses – Fundry.com, CrushyCMS.com and TrendsMap.com.

Clark and King are also investors in the Future Capital Development Fund and travel itinerary search site rome2rio.com.

5. Mark Harbottle, $60 million

Harbottle’s main business, 99designs, received a $35 million investment last year from Accel Partners.

Harbottle launched 99designs in 2008 with co-founder Matt Mickiewicz. Over the past 12 months, it has roughly doubled in size. Harbottle’s other ventures include Flippa and Learnable.

6. Matt Barrie, $50 million

Barrie is the chief executive and major shareholder of Freelancer.com, which has been used by more than four million people since Barrie made his first acquisition in 2009.

Freelancer.com is among the world’s top 100 websites. It is also in the top 100 in India and the top 50 in Bangladesh.

Prior to Freelancer.com, Barrie co-founded Sensory Networks, which raised $30 million.

7. Tom Kiing, $19 million

Earlier this year, Tom Kiing launched Tarazz, which claims to be Australia’s biggest online mall with 250,000 items for sale.

After studying at university, Kiing set up boutique investment fund Bridge Capital when he was just 23 years old.

He sits on the boards of listed companies Melbourne IT and Jumbuck Entertainment, and is also a director of sporting goods chain Sportsco.

8. Costa Anastasiadis and Michael Logos, $18 million

Anastasiadis and Logos, who are cousins, are the founders of Crust Gourmet Pizza, which was purchased by Retail Food Group earlier this year for $24 million.

Anastasiadis started Crust in Sydney in 2001. Logos bought into the business and opened a Melbourne store in 2002. There are now 119 stores across the country.

The deal with Retail Food Group involved $21 million in cash and $3 million in shares.