Gina Rinehart tops Forbes' Australian rich list While $965.39 million had been knocked off Gina Rinehart's estimated fortune in 2012, she remained leagues ahead of her compatriot billionaires. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen Source: The Australian GINA Rinehart has held on to the top spot on Forbes Asia's annual Australian rich list despite falling iron ore prices eating into her $16.41 billion mining fortune. The latest who's who of Australia's wealthy types revealed that while $965.39 million had been knocked off Mrs Rinehart's estimated fortune in 2012, she remained leagues ahead of her compatriot billionaires. Casino operator James Packer recorded the biggest leap in fortune, with his net worth increasing by $1.45bn to $5.79bn. Mr Packer was Australia's third wealthiest person after his fortunes swelled thanks to the $1.94bn sale of Cons Media - his family's last major media asset - to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Forbes described 2012 as the year when the Crown casino group chairman, and the youngest person on the list at 45, "came into his own." Others weren't so fortunate. Nathan Tinkler vanished from the list after having claimed the 26th spot in 2011 with a fortune of $801.27m. The 36-year-old had made the front page of Forbes Asia magazine last year amid expectations he was about to become a billionaire after his Aston Resources merged with Whitehaven Coal. But the price of coal sank, along with Tinkler's fortunes. He is now fending off a range of creditors, who claim he owes about $700m. Fellow miners also saw their fortunes flag, with Glencore International's chief Ivan Glasenberg's net worth falling to $6.47bn from $6.95bn. However the South African born 56-year-old, who became an Australian citizen in the 1980s, retained the No 2 spot on the Forbes list. Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest had $482.7m lopped off his net worth, taking it to $4.63bn and pushing him down the list two places to No 5. More fortunate was 89-year-old gaming entrepreneur Len Ainsworth, who returned to the list as a billionaire for the first time. The head of Ainsworth Game Technology more than doubled his wealth in 2012 to $994.35m after the value of his company more than quadrupled. Overall, the number of Australian billionaires rose by three to 23 in 2012. For those hoping to make an appearance on the 2013 rich list, all you need is a cool $598.54m to attract Forbes' attention. Gina Rinehart, $US17bn in 2012 vs $US18bn in 2011 Ivan Glasenberg, $US6.7bn vs $US7.2bn James Packer, $US6bn vs $US4.5bn Frank Lowy, $US5.3bn vs $US4.4bn Andrew Forrest, $US4.8bn vs $US5.3bn Harry Triguboff, $US4.6bn vs $US4bn Anthony Pratt; $US4.5bn vs $US3.4bn John Gandel; $US3.5bn vs $US3.2bn Kerr Neilson; $US2.5bn vs $US2.1bn Paul Ramsay; $US2.4bn vs $US1.7bn Other notables: Kerry Stokes, $US2bn vs $US1.8bn Lindsay Fox, $US1.95bn vs $US1.6bn Lang Walker, $US1.2bn vs $US950m Solomon Lew, $US1.16bn vs $US1.1bn Robert Ingham, $US1.15bn vs $US740m Gerry Harvey, $US930m vs $US900m Clive Palmer, $US895m vs $US800m Source: Forbes Asia magazine