Published: Sunday, 24 Oct 2010 | 5:28 AM
ET Text Size By: Darren Connell
Senior Producer, CNBC Asia PacificDiggBuzz
FacebookTwitter More Share
Nathan Tinkler seems like your average man. He’s a trained
electrician, with a young family, and has a passion for racing and
V8 super cars. But this 34-year-old is not your everyday
Australian. With a personal fortune of A$610 million ($596 million)
earned in the space of just a few years, Nathan Tinkler is on track
to becoming Australia’s youngest and fastest-ever self-made
billionaire.
This rags-to-riches tale, highlights how the mining boom is
changing lives and creating a new generation of super wealthy in
Australia. As a teenager, Tinkler left his small hometown of
Inverell and made his way to the coal rich mines of the Hunter
Valley. There he earned A$400 per week working as an apprentice
electrician, before starting his own business servicing the
mines.
But Tinkler was hungry for bigger things. In 2004, he saw an
opportunity in a small unwanted Queensland coal mine. Tinkler was
convinced it was a winner. He sold his house and business to raise
a A$1 million dollar non-refundable deposit. However, he still
needed another $29 million to finance the deal. He didn’t have a
cent left and only had a month to pay the next installment.
“I knocked on every door in Australia and many overseas to raise
the funds. Finally I succeeded after wearing out a lot of shoe
leather, ” he said.
The effort was worthwhile. Drilling returned high-grade coal
samples. Investors rushed on board and within six months, the mine
was valued at $400 million. Tinkler had struck it rich, but his
fortunes were just the beginning.
The freshly minted millionaire and his partners sold their
shares in the mine to Macarthur Coal. Tinkler became the second –
largest shareholder in the company, with 22 million shares acquired
at around A$8 each. But he didn’t see eye – to – eye with the
management. He soon wanted out of the company and steel making
giant Arcelor Mittal was happy to help.
“I knocked on every door in Australia and many overseas to raise
the funds. Finally I succeeded after wearing out a lot of shoe
leather.”
They offered him A$20 for each share he owned in Macarthur; and
Tinkler had secured another big deal. In just 18 months, he had
turned his A$1 million deposit, into a personal fortune worth A$445
million. And the deals haven’t stopped there, Tinkler has remained
on the lookout for undervalued mines through a number of
enterprises.
“I have plans to develop the infrastructure around the mining
industry as well as developing more minerals assets the team and
myself have identified,” he said.
He’s also used his newfound financial clout to purchase some
big-ticket toys. He has the jet and helicopter. He’s poured
millions into a thoroughbred racing and breeding farm in the Hunter
Valley. He’s purchased an A-league soccer club in Newcastle and
taken a 50 percent stake in a V8 racing team. All this achieved
with no formal qualifications except a trade certificate from New
South Wales vocational instititute TAFE. At
just 34 years of age, Nathan Tinkler may just be on track to
rewriting the rules on how to become a billionaire.