On May 13, 2009 Forbes announced their list of the forty richest businesspeople in Australia. The top 40 richest Australians list from last year (which included New Zealand) had a total net worth of $61.5 billion which dropped to $33.7 billion in 2009. Had this years list included New Zealand, the top 40 would have included a few Kiwis and would have pushed the total net worth up to $40 billion. Despite losses, this year's list had a minimum net worth of $280 million and James Packer, this year's richest Australian, topped the list with $3.1 billion in net worth.

Recent global economic fluctuations have caused almost all of the individuals on the list to have lost wealth in the last year. Of the multiple billionaires on the 2008 list, only nine are left. Of these, James Packer, CEO of Consolidated Media who lost $2.2 billion in assets over the last year, managed to beat out Andrew Forrest for the top position. Last year's top earner, mining magnate Forrest, came in fifth this year, having lost $5 billion over the last year (Authorities are investigating him for supposedly misleading investors). The remaining top five include Frank Lowy in second, Harry Triguboff in third, and John Gandel in fourth.

Among Australia's top forty are eleven immigrants and sixteen individuals over the age of seventy. The immigrants include Gordon Fu, a retail property owner and Denis Jen, an Australian property investor. Of the elders in the group, one, Len Buckeridge, is fighting for his life. One of last year's billionaires, Richard Pratt, lost his battle with cancer at the age of 74, passing his fortune and chairmanship of the family business to his son, Anthony, who took his father's place on the list.

Amidst all the loss in this year's list, there were three individuals who gained fortune over the last twelve months. Two of these, however, only appeared richer since information about their total wealth changed.

Individual wealth was estimated base on shareholder information, stock prices, and, in the case of private wealth, comparisons with public counterparts. Much of the information used to determine wealth came from the individuals or firms on the list.