Anthony Pratt has retained his title as Australia’s richest person, according to the Australian Financial Review Rich List, with his personal worth rising from $12.6bn to $12.9bn.

The list features Anthony Pratt and family in the number one spot, as Pratt Industries ownership is shared between them. The family also runs the privately owned Visy, established in Melbourne in 1948, and which has since grown to become one of the world’s largest privately owned paper, packaging and recycling companies.

It doubled its size in 2001 following the acquisition of fellow privately-owned packaging company Southcorp.

Visy employs more than 9500 people in Australia and the United States, which is where Anthony Pratt has driven the company.

Pratt has committed to growing his business both in Australia and the US (where it operates under the Pratt Industries banner). One part of that was a pledge to invest $2bn in Australia over the next decade, creating 5000 jobs.

He has a relationship with US President Donald Trump, and is often called out by him and congratulated at events, as he has been creating the manufacturing jobs in the poorer US-districts that the President campaigned on.

Anthony Pratt took the reins from his father, Richard Pratt, following his death in 2009. Since then the company has doubled its growth, with a strong performance in the Australian and US markets.

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