Mining giants Andrew and Nicola Forest to pursue separate lives

Australia’s richest couple Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest and his wife Nicola have officially announced they are living ‘separate’ lives.

The billionaire couple, who have been married for 31 years and share three adult children together, said they will now be living apart – but they insist it won’t affect the direction of their mining empire or philanthropic interests.  

‘After 31 years of marriage, we have made the decision to live apart. Our friendship and commitment to our family remains strong,’ said the couple in a joint statement to The Australian Financial Review. 

Mr Forrest, known by his nickname ‘Twiggy’, was ranked the second richest person in Australia this year – behind rival mining magnate Gina Rinehart – with a whopping $35.21 billion fortune. 

The couple’s wealth has largely been amassed through their 36 per cent stake in iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group, which they founded in 2003. 

They jointly oversee their private investment arm, Tattarang and they also co-founded, and continue to co-chair, their philanthropic venture Minderoo Foundation, which works to tackle a range of issues from modern slavery to plastic pollution.

The couple insist their separation will have no impact on the the strategic direction of their mining empire or their philanthropic ventures. 

‘There is no impact on the operations, control or direction of Fortescue, Minderoo or Tattarang,’ their statement added. 

The revelation of their separation came after the AFR approached the pair about a transaction last month that moved more than $1.1 billion worth of Fortescue shares into a new company called Coaxial Ventures, which is wholly owned by Mrs Forrest. 

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That transaction came after Mr Forrest gave half of his Tattarang shareholding to Ms Forrest. 

Both transactions have given Ms Forrest control of more Fortescue shares than her estranged husband, according to the AFR. 

The moves will perhaps mean her family nickname of ‘the undercover billionaire’ will no longer apply.

The nickname is partly a reference to her notorious thriftiness and partly down to the fact she preferred to remain in her husband’s shadow for decades.

‘The [undercover billionaire title] comes from the fact that she’d be encouraging dad, Sydney, and I to eat a week-old expired yoghurt because it’d be wasted,’ daughter Grace Forrest told the ABC.

‘The UCB does not like waste in any form.’

Her mother’s hatred of waste even led Mrs Forrest to abstain from using cling wrap and to wash and reuse plastic ziplock bags.

The couple have three adult children – Grace, Sophia and Sydney – and it is understood they have no plans to divorce. 

They pledged to give away the ‘vast majority’ of their fortune in their lifetimes and have previously said they will give little to their children.

In April last year, Mrs Forrest said she and Andrew would give away their fortune because they don’t want their three children, daugthers Grace and Sophia, and son Sydney to be ‘burdened’ by a handout.

‘Children don’t benefit from thinking they’re going to inherit a huge amount of money,’ she said earlier this year.

Last month, it was revealed the former couple had donated $5billion worth of shares in his mining company to his charity, the Minderoo Foundation.

Forrest, the second-richest person in Australia behind mining heiress Gina Rinehart, and his wife Nicola donated 220 million shares in Fortescue Metals Group.

The donation is about one-fifth of their stake in the company Forrest founded in 2003 and of which he is now executive chairman.

‘As our world faces enormous challenges, we have elected to continue to use our material wealth to help humanity and the environment meet these existential risks,’ he told Nine newspapers. 

‘Accumulating wealth should only be a small part of a person. Their contribution to their family and society is way more important. 

‘If you happen to be good at accumulating wealth, then I believe in using that skill for the greater good.’ 

Their statement on Wednesday evening added: ‘We will continue our shared mission to create and gift our wealth to tackle community and global challenges, as recently shown by last month’s donation of one-fifth of our Fortescue shareholding to Minderoo Foundation.’