How I Made It

Tony Walls, 57, is a Wollongong boy who went straight to work from Port Kembla High School, attended university at night and spent all his spare time programming computers. He started his own business right before the early ‘90’s recession from a bedroom in his parent’s house. Objective Corp now employs over 400 people and Tony is one of Australia’s newest tech billionaires. Walls, a reluctant member of the Rich List, says leaders have to be careful not to believe their

Jane Lu, 35, started fashion retailer Showpo in 2010 after scoring her dream job at a big consulting firm and realising she would "never be a good accountant". Showpo now sells 6000 styles, employs over 100 people and Jane - who has been on the Financial Review's Young Rich list since 2017 - is worth around $50 million. Lu talks about starting school in Australia without speaking any English; how failing in business can be the "best education"; and why you can achieve a lot more in life if you

Jack Cowin, 79, is the fast food billionaire who brought KFC and Hungry Jacks to Australia and then turned $400,000 into more than $2.6 billion by investing in a pizza business called Domino's. But he also had a failed career as a professional athlete, studied psychology and sold trees door-to-door while at university. He talks about how his first KFC store almost never happened because of a football rivalry, his battle with Burger King, and why, as Australia’s self-confessed biggest burger

Stories of building wealth from the ground up and business advice from members of the Australian Financial Review Rich List. How I Made It premieres October 10th 2021. Subscribe to the Australian Financial Review here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.