PHOTO: Chemist Warehouse
Australia’s most aggressive luxury property buyers in 2025 haven’t come from tech, mining, or finance.
They’ve come from pharmacy.
Following a blockbuster year that reshaped the retail and healthcare landscape, the founders and senior executives behind Chemist Warehouse have embarked on one of the most eye-watering real estate buying sprees Australia has seen — snapping up trophy homes across Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Byron Bay.
Mario Verrocchi and Mario Tascone at the Chemist Warehouse Supplier Function. Picture: Nick Addison
Mario Verrocchi, Sam Gance and Jack Gance celebrate the merger of Chemist Warehouse with Sigma Healthcare. Picture: The Australian / Nadir Kinani.
💊 The deal that changed everything
The catalyst was a transformational corporate moment.
Chemist Warehouse merged with Sigma Healthcare, creating a newly listed entity with an estimated market capitalisation of around $33 billion.
The listing elevated founders Jack Gance, Sam Gance, and Mario Verrocchi — along with a circle of long-serving executives — into Australia’s ultra-wealthy elite.
The ripple effect has been immediate and unmistakable in the property market.
Chemist Warehouse duo Mario Verrocchi and Mario Tascone have each bought at Bondi Beach. Picture: Supplied
Verrocchi, who has an estimated $7bn plus wealth, has flicked the sub-penthouse on to colleague Mario Tascone, who joined Chemist Warehouse as an intern pharmacist in the late 1980s.
🏙️ Toorak emerges as ground zero
Melbourne’s blue-chip suburb Toorak has become the epicentre of Chemist Warehouse wealth.
The standout purchase belongs to Jack Gance and his wife Evelynne, who reportedly paid more than $80 million for a substantial development site spanning over 6,000 square metres.
Already owners in the suburb, the acquisition places them on the same street as Jack’s brother Sam, who owns a residence reportedly worth $43.1 million.
Together with Sam’s son Damien Gance, the family’s combined wealth now exceeds $11 billion, according to rich-list estimates.
Adding to Toorak’s transformation, Azman Haroon, head of Chemist Warehouse New Zealand, and his wife Razia were linked to a $33.3 million Toorak purchase, while franchise owner Jason Yacoub secured a $15.6 million Kew mansion in an off-market deal.
🏠 Mario Verrocchi’s multi-state buying blitz
If Toorak is the headquarters of the spree, Mario Verrocchi is its most prolific buyer.
With personal wealth estimated at $7 billion+, Verrocchi has quietly assembled a portfolio spanning multiple states.
Key moves include:
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A $20m+ six-bedroom Toorak mansion (off-market)
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A $23m Bondi penthouse in the Hall & Campbell development
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The transfer of a sub-penthouse to long-time colleague Mario Tascone, who later secured another apartment in the same building for $25.1m
Verrocchi has been candid about the attention, noting that his fortune was earned through decades of work rather than speculation.
Angela and Tony Bassaly pose for a photo at Bondi Icebergs New Year Day Party in 2021. Picture: Daily Telegraph / Monique Harmer
🌊 Sydney and Byron Bay join the party
The spending hasn’t stopped in Victoria.
In Sydney:
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Tony Bassaly, general manager of franchise brands at Sigma Healthcare, and his wife Angela purchased a $22.65m beachfront home in Bronte
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The property had previously traded for just over $11m seven years earlier
In Byron Bay:
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Damien Gance and his wife Sasha Robertson paid $33.5m in cash for a high-end coastal home
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Businessman and Chemist Warehouse shareholder Brett Clark AM and his wife Maria set a Bangalow suburb record, paying $27.5m for the luxury equine estate Copperstone
These deals underscore how Chemist Warehouse wealth is now reshaping prestige markets far beyond capital cities.
Brisbanite Brett Clark, AM and his wife Maria have emerged as the $27.5 million buyers of Copperstone in Bangalow, settlement documents reveal, breaking the suburb record by more than double.
🧱 The next generation thinks even bigger
The property ambition extends to the founders’ children.
Matthew Verrocchi, son of Mario and managing director of Bondi Perfume Co, and his wife Nicole have quietly assembled seven adjoining properties in Toorak, spending $27.83m to date.
With planning approval secured, the land aggregation paves the way for a major luxury residence — a strategy more commonly seen among global billionaires than Australian retail executives.
Chemist Warehouse co-founder Mario Verrocchi has purchased a mansion in Toorak for more than $20 million. Source: realestate.com.au
🌴 Brisbane records fall too
Queensland hasn’t been immune.
Chemist Warehouse managing partner Jeff Wasley and his wife Tanya:
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Bought a $12.5m designer mansion in Hamilton
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Followed it with a $25m purchase in New Farm, setting a new Brisbane house-price record
That second deal alone delivered the previous owners a $16.5m gain in just three years.
A three-storey New Farm home, once owned by prominent Queensland developer and Graya managing director Rob Gray and his wife Meghan has sold for $25 million to Chemist Warehouse managing partner Jeff Wasley and his wife Tanya.
📈 What this spree says about Australia’s property market
This isn’t just celebrity house-watching.
The Chemist Warehouse property spree highlights three powerful trends:
✔ Liquidity events are driving luxury demand
✔ Off-market deals dominate the ultra-high end
✔ Prestige property remains a preferred store of wealth
When founders and executives convert corporate success into bricks and mortar at this scale, it sends a clear signal: elite Australian property remains globally desirable and tightly held.
🧭 The bottom line
From suburban pharmacies to billion-dollar balance sheets, Chemist Warehouse’s leadership has rewritten Australia’s retail story — and now they’re reshaping its most exclusive property markets.
This isn’t opportunistic buying.
It’s strategic wealth parking at the very top of the market.
And the ripple effects are being felt from Toorak to Bondi, Brisbane to Byron Bay.
SOURCE: REALESTATE.COM.AU