PHOTO: Harry Triguboff. FILE
Australia’s richest man, Harry Triguboff, has just pulled off what industry insiders are calling one of the most lucrative property power plays in Australian history. Thanks to a surge in Sydney’s luxury property market, the billionaire developer’s private Vaucluse compound is now estimated to be worth over $250 million – cementing its status as one of the most valuable homes in the country.
From humble buy to billion-dollar bragging rights
The Meriton boss, affectionately nicknamed “High-Rise Harry,” began assembling his exclusive waterfront estate back in 1983, when he snapped up the first block for just $4.1 million (around $16 million in today’s dollars). Over the decades, Triguboff quietly pieced together multiple prime sites in Vaucluse, creating a 5200 sqm super-compound that now dwarfs even some of Sydney’s most iconic homes.
Today, that bold vision is paying off. With the Sydney prestige market roaring back, the property is rumoured to be worth more than $250 million – eclipsing nearly every other private residence in Australia.
How it compares to Australia’s priciest homes
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🇦🇺 Australia’s most expensive property sale remains a Barangaroo penthouse amalgamation that sold for $140 million in 2019.
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🏡 The highest freestanding home sale was $130 million for Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar’s former Point Piper mansion.
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💎 But Triguboff’s Vaucluse fortress has now smashed past both benchmarks – without even hitting the open market.
Triguboff’s billionaire boom
The BRW Rich List 2025 values Harry Triguboff’s fortune at just under $30 billion, up 11% year-on-year – one of the largest wealth jumps among Australia’s billionaire elite. With the Sydney property juggernaut surging once again, insiders say the valuation of his Vaucluse estate is only set to climb higher.
Why it matters
Triguboff’s rise shows the extraordinary power of long-term property investing in Sydney’s prestige suburbs. What began as a strategic acquisition more than 40 years ago has transformed into an unmatched real estate empire that dwarfs many of the country’s richest property deals.