David Hains (c. 1931 – 22 January 2023) was an Australian businessman, engineer, and horse breeder.[1][2] He was the founder and once CEO of Portland House Group, Australia’s largest private investments management firm and hedge fund. According to Forbes, Hains had at the time of his death a personal net-worth of around $2 billion, making him one of Australia’s richest person.[3]
Biography
Hains graduated from the University of Melbourne.[2] He started his career as an engineer and in corporate restructuring.[1][4] In the 1960s, he took a seven-year hiatus from his career to play golf.[5]
Through his Portland House Group, Australia's biggest hedge fund that he managed with his children, Hains invested in equities, fixed interest, property and managed funds globally.[2][1][4] In 1993, he sold an investment to Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel for US$107 million.[1]
Hains was married to Helen Hains and had five children.[7] His son Richard Hains is a hedge fund manager and author of the novel Chameleon.[8] Helen Hains died on 24 August 2017.[7]
Hains died on 22 January 2023, at the age of 92.[9]
Wealth rankings
In May 2019, The Australian Financial Review estimated Hains' net worth as A$2.90 billion as published in the Financial Review Rich List;[10] and in January 2019 his net worth was estimated by Forbes Asia as US$1.90 billion as published in the list of Australia's 50 richest people.[11][12][13] As of May 2021[update], Hains was one of ten Australians who had appeared in every Financial Review Rich List, or its predecessor, the BRW Rich 200, since it was first published in 1984,[14][15] until his death in 2023. In 2023, the Financial Review, assessed the net worth of Hains' descendants, Stephen, Richard and Michael Hains and family, at A$2.88 billion.[16]
