A series of share transfers and company restructures over the past six months mean that Andrew and Nicola Forrest will have a roughly equal split of their $34 billion fortune.
A series of share transfers and company restructures over the past six months mean that Andrew and Nicola Forrest will have a roughly equal split of their $34 billion fortune.
Yesterday’s announcement that they are separating was the culmination of several major behind-the -scenes changes that have set them up for the future.
These include an ownership restructure of their private company Tattarang, which since February has been split 50:50 between Andrew and Nicola.
A second major change was the transfer of 50 million FMG shares to a new entity, Coaxial Ventures, that is owned by Ms Forrest.
Collectively, their family fortune has been based on a 36.7 per cent shareholding in Fortescue Metals Group, valued at about $24 billion at today’s share price.
On top of that, the Forrests have been paid $9.7 billion in FMG dividends over the past four years.
Assuming they have invested sensibly, their net worth would be at least $34 billion and potentially a lot more.
They have emphasised that the separation will not affect their business operations or their philanthropic arm, Minderoo Foundation.
“There is no impact on the operations, control or direction of Fortescue, Minderoo or Tattarang,” they said in a statement late yesterday.
Fortescue pushed the same message in a statement to the ASX this morning.
“There will be no change to the control, direction or major shareholding owned by Tattarang and Dr Forrest’s associated entities, except for what has been previously advised, that Dr Andrew Forrest and Nicola Forrest will be transferring their wealth to charity over their lifetimes,” the company said.
“Dr Forrest remains executive chair of Fortescue and chair of Tattarang and Minderoo Foundation.”
A key phrase in the company announcement was the reference to shares owned by Tattarang and Dr Forrest’s "associated entities”.
That explains why Dr Forrest was able to say on 20 June that his shareholding has not changed since the last notice.
He lodged an Appendix 3Y, or Change of Director’s Interest Notice, with the ASX on that day.
It showed that he had an ‘interest’ in 1,131,363,000 FMG shares – the same number he had previously disclosed.
What had changed was the entities holding those shares.
Some of the shares are held directly in Dr Forrest’s name but there are five other shareholding entities, including Tattarang Pty Ltd as trustee for The Peepingee Trust.
The shares are also held by The Tattarang Investment Trust, the Forrest Family Foundation and The Minderoo Foundation Trust.
The most interesting name on the list was Coaxial Ventures Pty Ltd, as trustee for the Coaxial Ventures Discretionary Trust.
Two entities, Coaxial Ventures and Coaxial Private, were registered with ASIC on 19 June.
They have four directors – Nicola Forrest and her three children, Grace, Sophia and Sydney.
The registered address for both entities was 171 Mounts Bay Rd, which is Tattarang’s head office.
The most notable detail was that Ms Forrest listed her residential address as the exclusive Sydney suburb of Point Piper – not the family home in Cottesloe.
That was the critical detail that appears to have prompted the Forrests to confirm long-running rumours that they had separated.
Despite the change to Tattarang’s ownership and the transfer of shares to Coaxial, Dr Forrest is still able to claim he has an interest in 1.13 billion FMG shares.
That’s because, under the Corporations Law, he and Ms Forrest are considered ‘associates’– a term that each shareholder must assess based on their own circumstances (see more below).
Dr Forrest’s Appendix 3Y was lodged with the ASX on the same day the Forrests announced they were donating 220 million FMG shares to their charitable arm, The Minderoo Foundation.
It could be argued that those shares should not be included in any calculation of their personal wealth.
However the law does not work that way because they still control Minderoo.
And as noted above, it is one of six shareholding entities included in Dr Forrest’s Appendix 3Y.
So while Dr Forrest can legitimately claim to have an interest in 1.13 billion FMG shares, the reality below the surface is different.
The ownership structures of the six entities listed above means that Ms Forrest is estimated to own slightly more FMG shares than her former partner.
The 50:50 ownership split at Tattarang also means she has an equal stake in their private assets, which span across mining, energy, property and agribusiness.
As a director of Tattarang and some of its major subsidiaries, Ms Forrest has been increasingly active in guiding its operations.
She led a major investment by property arm FiveEight at One Circular Quay in Sydney, which will be home to Australia’s first Waldorf Astoria hotel.
Among many other projects, FiveEight is also planning a complete redevelopment of the Carillon retail precinct in central Perth and is upgrading the office tower at 190 St Georges Tce.
Ms Forrest supports female-led and female-owned businesses as part of Tattarang’s plan to achieve gender parity in its investments.
To this end, it has backed startup accelerator Startmate, supported the South-East Asia Women’s Economic Empowerment Fund and invested in fashion brand Camilla.
As a director of bootmaker RM Williams, she has overseen new investments in the iconic business, with a focus on Australian craftsmanship.
She is also a director of agribusiness arm Harvest Road, which has been focused on decarbonising its beef supply chain, including through an investment in climate technology company Rumin8.
At Minderoo, which spent $136 million last year on its multiple projects, Ms Forrest has a particular interest in the Thrive by Five early learning program and support for the arts sector.
Meanwhile, the experience of Perth entrepreneur Megan Wynne provides an insightful footnote to this analysis.
She shot to prominence in 2021 when her company APM Human Services International listed on the ASX.
Based on shareholding disclosures provided by the company, she was hailed as WA’s newest billionaire.
However, when she lodged her first Appendix 3Y, it painted a very different picture.
Ms Wynne said she had an interest only in the shares held in her own name.
Contrary to what Dr Forrest – and almost every other company director – has disclosed to the ASX, Ms Wynne said she did not have a 'relevant interest’ in the very large shareholding of her spouse, Bruce Bellinge.
The next time Andrew Forrest lodges an Appendix 3Y, it will be closely scrutinised to see if he adopts the same interpretation.
