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Australia’s tech entrepreneurs have had a horror year while home grown celebrities are raking in the dough.

That’s according to the Australian Financial Review’s Young Rich List, released on Thursday morning.

The AFR’s analysis of Australia’s 100 wealthiest people under the age of 40 (and who have not inherited their wealth) found that the nation’s richest have collectively lost $11 billion over the last year, largely from the plunging values of various tech companies.

Meanwhile, Australian celebrities like A-list actor Chris Hemsworth and music sensations Tones & I and Vance Joy have for the first time been named in the list.

Hemsworth, 39, is the nation’s wealthiest young actor worth $162 million.

His net worth used to be $57 million but that’s shot up considerably after the former Byron Bay local sold his fitness company to Jeff Bezos’ younger brother.

In April this year, Hemsworth announced that an exercising app he created in 2019, Centr, had been acquired by a US company headed by Mark Bezos.

But other Australians didn’t fare quite as well in the past year.

The co-founders of graphic design platform Canva, Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht, had $3 billion struck off their fortune in the last 12 months. Despite that, they were still at the top of the rich list, with a combined wealth of $13.7 billion.

And a crypto multi-millionaire has reportedly lost 80 per cent of his wealth after the rough year for digital tokens.

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The Warwick brothers – Kieran, Aaron and Grant – are co-owners of a play-to-earn cryptocurrency game and have collectively seen their wealth plunge by 80 per cent.

Keiran’s wealth plummeted from $463 million last year to $93 million as of today.

That means $370 million has vanished from his net worth in 365 days.

The game, called Illuvium, launched the brothers onto the rich list because it attracted millions of dollars worth of speculative investments, but since then cryptocurrency has been stuck in a rut.

Bitcoin, the most prominent cryptocurrency, is currently down 70 per cent since its all-time high in November last year.

The buy now pay later (BNPL) sector has also had its value slashed amid a turbulent year.

Afterpay co-founder Nicholas Molnar has lost nearly 60 per cent of his wealth from $2.8 billion to $1.2 billion and slipped to fourth place on the list. Last year he was the third richest.

AFR Rich List coeditor Julie-anne Sprague said of the struggling technology industry: “The technology sector had a reality check this year, with the lofty company valuations that underpinned their wealth tumbling as rising interest rates reset expectations for growth and sharpened investor focus on profitability.”

Bucking that trend however was rich lister Ed Craven, 27, who made it onto the list for the first time this year because of his cryptocurrency casino called Stake.com.

Craven has made a splash in the media twice this year after flaunting his cash by buying two properties in the plush Melbourne suburb of Toorak.

One of those two houses was an $80 million mansion, rendering it the most expensive purchase in the suburb, ever.

Mr Craven has an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion, putting him at number five on the rich list.

Although tech entrepreneurs are mostly struggling (unless you’re Ed Craven), other business owners are still riding a wave of success.

Sam Prince, 38, the founder of Mexican restaurant chain Zambrero, overtook Nicholas Molnar to come in third place on the Young Rich List.

Prince has lifted his wealth to $1.2 billion, up from $1.1 billion last year.

Australian celebrities are also weathering the storm. As well as Chris Hemsworth making it onto the list in 37th spot, several other big names in the country also received an honourable mention.

Miranda Kerr remains the richest public figure under 40, with a wealth pile of $173 million, up from $124 million. That puts her in the 31st position.

F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo is our richest sport star, despite missing out on playing next year in the race unless a Redbull driver pulls out.

Basketball star Ben Simmons from the Brooklyn Nets is the second richest sport star in the country, worth $144 million. That’s despite him sitting on the sidelines most of the year.

Australian actress Margot Robbie is worth an estimated $102 million while model Jennifer Hawkins sits at $95 million (up from $72 million).

Vance Joy is worth $40 million and Tones & I is worth $35 million.

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