Rich Lister winners and losers so far

It usually takes more than two months to become a billionaire.

But the pandemic has been the surprise making of buy now, pay later provider Afterpay. Its founders, Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen, are, so far this year, the biggest winners of those occupying the Financial Review Rich List.

At first, it seemed that global lockdowns combined with millions of people out of work was a disaster for a group offering credit to Millenials for discretionary spending.

Just two months ago, when Afterpay shares crashed to $8.90, Molnar and Eisen would have fallen off the Rich List entirely with equity stakes worth $182 million.

But as governments mobilise to prop up the incomes of battered households, all of a sudden Afterpay had a Lazarus moment. Its shares hit a record high $50 this week, valuing equity stakes held by both its founders at over $1 billion apiece.

If the equity rebound is sustained, Molnar could cement his place on the Rich List as the nation’s youngest-ever self-made billionaire. He turned 30 in February. Scott Farquhar was 33 and Mike Cannon-Brookes was 34 when the Atlassian co-founders became billionaires in 2014.

The sharp moves down and up the Rich List for Molnar and Eisen are a stark reminder of how much wealth is tied up in equity, whether public or private. There are very few cash billionaires like Fortescue Metal Group's Andrew Forrest, who's collected $1.4 billion in dividends after tax from his iron ore miner in the past two years alone.

Afterpay, now worth more than $12 billion, might have been a surprise winner from the crisis but the three founders behind travel group Flight Centre have been perhaps its most predictable "losers".

Between them, they've suffered a $1.2 billion hit to their estimated wealth, fresh analysis by AFR Weekend shows. If the downturn in earnings and share price for Flight Centre is sustained, the trio will tumble down the Rich List when it's published in full later in the year.

Others suffering a serious hit to their wealth include London-based funds manager Michael Hintze, whose $2.7 billion fortune of 2019 has plunged 25 per cent, thanks to sharp pandemic losses at both the credit and long/short funds of his firm CQS. Performance fees are crucial to the value of CQS, accounting for $90 million of its $200 million turnover last financial year.

The fortunes of the car barons have also fallen as sales dried up under social distancing restrictions. The share prices of Nick Politis' car dealership network, AP Eagers, and Vivek Sehgal's parts conglomerate, Motherson Sumi, have been hammered, although the coronavirus might yet provide the key to their recovery.

Car-related stocks were falling well before the pandemic, as sales fell among city dwellers, who were increasingly opting for rideshare or public transport to get around.

Not any more, as Sehgal told The Australian Financial Review last month.

"Our factories in China and Korea have just re-opened and they're going crazy," he said at the time.

"Even in Wuhan people have been making a beeline for the dealerships, because they want personal transport now, not public transport or ride-share, and the low petrol prices are helping."