I guess the problem with being a billionaire is people see you coming. $171m later:
Tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and his wife Annie have bought Australia’s most expensive house, Fairwater, ending more than a century of Fairfax family ownership.
“We are delighted with the purchase of Fairwater for our young family and look forward to continuing the legacy of this beautiful Sydney home,” Cannon-Brookes said in an exclusive statement to Domain on Thursday morning.
…The sale smashes the $71 million record set last year by the Fairfax family’s Elaine estate next door sold by Jacobs to tech billionaire Scott Farquhar, co-founder of the software giant Atlassian.
At least Mr Cannon-Brookes will be paying $5m in stamp duty to contribute to infrastructure for the first time, given Atlassian is an enthusiastic supporter of its mass immigration program but doesn’t pay Australian tax.
The build-out won’t be needed in his area; Sydney’s projected population growth by district:
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal.
He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.
