Background and career
David Hains (c. 1931 – 22 January 2023) was an Australian businessman, engineer, and horse breeder. He was the founder and once CEO of Portland House Group, Australia’s largest private investments management firm and hedge fund. According to Forbes, Hains had at the time of his death a personal net-worth of around $2 billion, making him one of the richest person of Australia.
Hains graduated from the University of Melbourne. He started his career as an engineer and in corporate restructuring. In the 1960s, he took a seven-year hiatus from his career to play golf. Through his Portland House Group, Australia's biggest hedge fund that he managed with his children, Hains invested in equities, fixed interest, property and managed funds globally. In 1993, he sold an investment to Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel for US$107 million. Hains bred horses at his Kingston Park Stud in Merricks North, Victoria. His horses include Kingston Town, Lowan Star and Rose of Kingston.
Hains was married to Helen Hains and had five children. His son Richard Hains is a hedge fund manager and author of the novel Chameleon. Helen Hains died on 24 August 2017. Hains died on 22 January 2023, at the age of 92.
In May 2019, The Australian Financial Review estimated Hains' net worth as A$2.90 billion as published in the Financial Review Rich List; and in January 2019 his net worth was estimated by Forbes Asia as US$1.90 billion as published in the list of Australia's 50 richest people. As of May 2021, Hains was one of ten Australians who had appeared in every Financial Review Rich List, or its predecessor, the BRW Rich 200, since it was first published in 1984, until his death in 2023. In 2023, the Financial Review, assessed the net worth of Hains' descendants, Stephen, Richard and Michael Hains and family, at A$2.88 billion.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
