🏆 Trophy House Tuesday - 14 May 2024

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Trophy Home Tuesday
May 14, 2024

Welcome to THT! If you’re wondering why you’re getting this email it’s because THT used to be VCInsights — a newsletter about VC deals.

The thing is VC deals can be a bit boring, so we’re changing it up to cover the mega property deals of the ultra-rich in Australia.

Every week we’ll share the biggest property deals from the past 7 days in Australia + give you a little insight on how the buyer or seller got rich 💰.

If the reinvention of the newsletter is not for you, that’s all good and you can unsubscribe by hitting the link at the bottom of the email.

Otherwise, we hope you enjoy!

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🏆 Banker & art collector duo list their tri-level pad for $15-16m

(NSW Clareville | 4 bed | 3 bath | 2 car)

How’d they get rich? Simon Mordant started the boutique advisory shop Caliburn which in 2010 he sold to the US-based investment bank, Greenhill for $200m.

What else?

  • Mordant’s running the same playbook again, having started another boutique advisory shop in 2015 called Luminis Partners.

  • In 2017, Luminis sold a 19% stake to Evercore, a different US-based investment bank this time aka Greenhill’s nemesis.

View the listing here.

🏆 The OG’s of AI buy a $12.5m penthouse

(NSW Cremorne Point | 4 bed | 3 bath | 2 car)

How’d they get rich? Chris Vonwiller and Julie Vonwiller are the cofounders of Appen — the ASX-listed company that helps companies like Google and Amazon train their AI models… or at least it did.

What else?

  • Appen’s been crushed as it keeps losing contracts with its Big Tech customers who are bringing the work Appen once did in-house.

  • In 2020, the Vonwiller’s sold 2m shares for ~$60m when Appen had a market cap of over $5bn. The company’s market cap is now only $140m.

View the listing here.

🏆 Cotton On CFO puts their Armadale house on the block for ~$13m

(VIC Armadale | 5 bed | 4 bath | 6 car)

How’d they get rich? Michael Hardwick’s been the CFO of Cotton On — a business that his brother Ash Hardwick helped get off the ground.

What else?

  • Hard to say how much the privately owned Cotton On empire is worth — and how much equity Michael Hardwick holds.

  • But the company did about $2.2bn in revenue last year across its brands which includes Typo and Supre.

View the listing here.

🏆 Finance dude sells Bellevue Hill mansion for $23m

(NSW Bellevue Hill | 6 bed | 5 bath | 3 car)

How’d they get rich? Damon Hambly’s jumped around from Macquarie to Natixis to now serving as the CEO of equities fund, Investors Mutual.

What else?

  • The home was designed by Luigi Rosselli Architects.

  • And the couple selling — Damon Hambly and wife Philippa Haydon — love the architect so much they sold this pad only to buy another Luigi-designed place for $16.5m in Woollahra

View the listing here.

Other Deals

  • $40m Rose Bay pad is listed on the market (NSW | 5 bed | 5 bath | 4 car)

  • $35m waterfront house sells to an undisclosed buyer in Manly (NSW | 5 bed | 4 bath | 2 car)

  • $13m palace is priced to sell in Templestowe (VIC | 6 bed | 5 bath | 10 car)

  • $12.5m worth of properties added to Mike Cannon-Brookes portfolio (NSW)

  • $12-15m estate in Bedfordale goes under offer (WA | 4 bed | 4 bath | 6 car)

  • $10m ranch with 100 hectares on the Mornington Peninsula is listed as a mortgagee-in-possession (VIC | 4 bed | 2 bath | 3 car)