How Australian mining magnate's 'undercover billionaire' wife plans to GIVE AWAY up to $27billion

She is Australia’s most generous philanthropist, but most Australians would have no idea who she is.

Nicola Forrest has been married to iron ore tycoon Andrew Forrest for 30 years and reluctantly stepped into the spotlight when the mining power couple pledged to give away the “vast majority” of their fortune over the course of their lives.

Based on the value of his shares, especially in Fortescue Metals Group, his wealth is estimated at $27.25 billion, much of which comes from exporting iron ore to China.

Forrest built his fortune in mining by founding Anaconda Nickel Ltd, now known as Minara Resources, in 1994, before founding Fortescue in 2003 and mining for iron ore in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Nicola Forrest is Australia's most generous philanthropist, but most Australians have no idea who she is.

Nicola Forrest is Australia’s most generous philanthropist, but most Australians have no idea who she is.

It is a family joke that Mrs. Forrest is known as the 'undercover billionaire' (Nicola Forrest is pictured left with her daughter Grace, who runs a human rights organization that Nicola funds)

It is a family joke that Mrs. Forrest is known as the ‘undercover billionaire’ (Nicola Forrest is pictured left with her daughter Grace, who runs a human rights organization that Nicola funds)

Nicola Forrest is pictured with her high-profile billionaire husband, Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest, whose risk-taking in iron ore mines in the Pilbara region of WA was the basis of her $27.25k fortune millions.

Nicola Forrest is pictured with her high-profile billionaire husband, Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest, whose risk-taking in iron ore mines in the Pilbara region of WA was the basis of her $27.25k fortune millions.

Where Forrest’s $27.25 Billion Goes

  • Prioritize the education of children under five
  • End modern slavery
  • Improving Australia’s fire and flood ‘resilience’ by 2025
  • End the disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians
  • Eliminate plastic waste in rivers and oceans
  • Collaboration in cancer research
  • blooming oceans
  • Building community alliances
  • art and culture
  • Education on the real social impacts of new technologies
  • forrest research foundation
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Source: Mindaroo Foundation

It is a family joke that Mrs. Forrest is known as the ‘undercover billionaire’.

The nickname is partly a reference to his notorious economy and partly to the fact that he preferred to remain in the shadow of Andrew Forrest for decades.

‘The [undercover billionaire title] It comes from the fact that she would be encouraging Dad, Sydney and I to eat a week-old expired yogurt because it would go to waste,” her daughter, Grace Forrest, told ABC.

‘UCB does not like waste in any form.’

Her mother’s hatred of waste even led Ms. Forrest to refrain from using cling film and to wash and reuse zip-lock plastic bags.

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

“Children don’t benefit from thinking they’re going to inherit a lot of money,” he said earlier this year.

Grace Forrest was Western Australia’s Young Australian of the Year in 2018 for her work with the Walk Free charity, which is funded from her parents’ wealth and aims to eradicate modern slavery.

Sophia Forrest is an actress who recently got engaged to her girlfriend Zara Zoe.

He has already starred in the DC movie Aquaman and the Australian miniseries Love Child.

Sophia Forrest is an actress who recently got engaged to her girlfriend Zara Zoe

Sophia Forrest is an actress who recently got engaged to her girlfriend Zara Zoe

Grace Forrest was Western Australia's Young Australian of the Year in 2018 for her work with the Walk Free charity, funded from her parents' wealth.

Grace Forrest was Western Australia’s Young Australian of the Year in 2018 for her work with the Walk Free charity, funded from her parents’ wealth.

Other Australians who have pledged to give away their fortunes include Canva founders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht, and Aristocrat slots king Len Ainsworth.

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With Ms. Forrest at the helm of the Minderoo Foundation, the couple created to fulfill their promise, they have already invested $2.6 billion in 11 projects.

He made record donations of $400 million in 2017 and $655 million in 2019.

The organization has not been without its critics. Environmental activist groups have questioned how real their commitment is, especially to green issues, given that the base is based on profits from the mining industry.

But Minderoo is just getting started. It is understood that he is preparing to donate more than a billion dollars each year.

In April, Ms Forrest said she and Andrew would give away their fortune because they don't want their three children, Grace, Sophia and Sydney, to be

In April, Ms Forrest said she and Andrew would give away their fortune because they don’t want their three children, Grace, Sophia and Sydney, to be “burdened” by a handout.

In the photo: Andrew and Nicola Forrest with their daughters Grace and Sophia

In the photo: Andrew and Nicola Forrest with their daughters Grace and Sophia

Some projects are as big as ending slavery, global warming, and bridging the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Other Minderoo projects are as personal as improving early childhood education.

“I am motivated by the experiences I have had both raising and losing children,” Nicola Forrest told the National Press Club last February.

The focus on helping young children is Ms. Forrest’s greatest passion, fueled in part by the loss of her stillborn daughter, Matilda, in 1988.

An autopsy commissioned by the family found that there was nothing wrong and that their daughter, although stillborn, was a “beautiful and perfect child”.

She said the loss of Matilda “tore our family apart.”

“Because of this experience, I contacted Professor John Newnham at the Women and Children Research Foundation, joined their board and worked with them for years,” said Ms Forrest.

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‘This relationship and the research I immersed myself in is why I’m here today and, in fact, why we launched the Minderoo Foundation 20 years ago.

‘It opened my eyes to the amazingly simple fact. That, from conception, the first five years of life are crucial for human health and happiness.

‘Protect those years, and you protect the future.’

Family affair: Sophia shared an intimate clip of herself with Zara and her father, mining magnate Andrew (far right) and his wife Nicola (far left)

Family affair: Sophia shared an intimate clip of herself with Zara and her father, mining magnate Andrew (far right) and his wife Nicola (far left)

Another focus of the foundation is to improve the education of children under the age of five before they go to school.

They may not be able to concentrate, follow directions, express themselves, or interact with each other or with adults. Or they may be unusually withdrawn or anxious,” said Ms Forrest.

Those kids fall behind so quickly that by the time they reach adolescence “they’re completely cut off,” he said.

In 2019, Minderoo released a major report showing the cost of Australians’ ‘late intervention’ with children falling behind in their education is $15.2 billion a year.

“The cost of our inaction is smeared in government budget documents: $5.9 billion for child protection, $2.7 billion for juvenile crime, $1.3 billion for mental health, and that was pre-COVID,” he said.

Another of the projects of the Minderoo Foundation is the elimination of childhood cancer.

Under the motto of collaborating against cancer, Minderoo also aims to ban cigarettes for anyone under 21 years of age.

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