Clive Palmer Net Worth

What Is Clive Palmer's Net Worth?

Clive Palmer is an Australian entrepreneur, businessman, politician, and activist who has a net worth of $4 billion. Clive Palmer owns Mineralogy Pty Ltd., an ore mining company that operates in Western Australia. He was also on the faculty of Deakins University from 2002 to 2006. Clive has been involved in several business industries. Palmer is the owner of Mineralogy, which works in iron ore reserves, and he later bought Waratah Coal, Queensland Nickel, and the Palmer Nickel and Cobalt Refinery. In 2008, he ventured into soccer, buying Gold Coast United in an effort to boost his image in China. Four years later, Clive's license was revoked by the Football Federation Australia, and he founded a competing league.

Palmer is the businessman behind Titanic II, a recreation of the famous doomed ship that he was set to sail from Southampton to New York in 2016 before being delayed to 2018, then 2022, then 2027. He is also the developer of Palmer Coolum Resort: Dinosaur Park, a theme park with animatronic dinosaurs inspired by "Jurassic Park." Palmersaurus opened in late 2013 in Australia.

In 2013, Clive created his own political party, Palmer United Party, to contest the federal election and ended up winning the Queensland seat in the House of Representatives. After the party was deregistered, it was revived as the United Australia Party in 2018, and Clive served as the party's Chairman until 2022. In May 2025, the Australian Financial Review reported that Palmer was the fifth-richest Australian, assessing his net worth at A$20.12 billion.

Early Life

Clive Palmer was born Clive Frederick Palmer on March 26, 1954, in Footscray, Victoria, Australia. In 1963, Clive moved to Queensland with his family. He attended Aquinas College, Toowoomba Grammar School, and Southport State High School. His father, George, worked as a travel agent, and the family spent their free time traveling around the world. Palmer has claimed that while visiting China at the age of nine, he sat on Mao Zedong's lap. George also owned the Akron Broadcasting Co and the Akron Tyre Co, and he founded the 3AK broadcasting station in Melbourne. After high school, Clive enrolled at the University of Queensland to study journalism, law, and politics, but he left in 1975 before graduating. Through the Queensland Bar Board, he later earned a Diploma of Law. He subsequently worked in the Public Defender's Office as a clerk and interviewing officer.

Business Career

In the early '80s, Palmer began working as a real estate agent. He was successful due to the Gold Coast's property boom, and he "retired" before the age of 30.

In the mid-1980s, he founded three Western Australian mining exploration companies, including Mineralogy. Clive purchased Waratah Coal in 2008. He moved Mineralogy to New Zealand in late 2018 and to Singapore in early 2019. The company has been in a long dispute with Hong Kong's CITIC Limited over royalty payments, and in 2017, Mineralogy was awarded $200 million by the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

In 2009, Palmer acquired Queensland Nickel as well as the Palmer Nickel and Cobalt Refinery. Queensland Nickel went into voluntary administration in 2016, and Clive refused to pay the entitlements of the workers who were out of a job. However, after the 2019 federal election, he announced that he was planning on reopening the Queensland Nickel refinery and would pay the $7.16 million the workers were owed.

In 2011, Palmer bought the Coolum Hyatt Resort, and he later built an animatronic dinosaur park called Palmersaurus on the property. The park opened in December 2013, and in 2015, low occupancy rates led to the Palmer Coolum Resort being mothballed. In 2008, Clive bought the Gold Coast United football club.

In 2012, his license for the team was revoked due to frequent breaches of FFA rules. Later that year, Palmer founded Football Australia.

In 2013, Clive announced that he planned to build a replica of the Titanic. Titanic II was meant to make its first voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City in 2016, but it was delayed to 2018, then 2022, then 2027.

Clive Palmer/ Stefan Postles/Getty Images

Political Career

In the '70s, Palmer was involved in the Liberal Movement that was led by Steele Hall, the then-Premier of South Australia. In 1974, Clive joined the National Party of Australia's Queensland division, and during the 1983 state election, he served as the party's campaign director. During the 1986 election campaign, he was their media spokesman. In 2013, he created the Palmer United Party, and during that year's federal election, he won the Sunshine Coast seat of Fairfax. Clive spent one term as a Member of Parliament (MP), and in May 2016, he announced his intention to retire from politics; he deregistered the Palmer United Party's state branches a few months later. However, in June 2018, he resurrected the party as the United Australia Party, and the party didn't win any seats in the 2019 Australian federal election. Palmer spent over $120 million on the 2022 Australian federal election, but the party only ended up winning one Senate seat. The party was deregistered in September 2022, and in February 2025, Clive announced that he was a member of the right-wing party Trumpet of Patriots. He spent around $60 million on the 2025 federal election, but the party didn't win any seats in Parliament. Palmer subsequently announced that he was retiring from politics.

Personal Life

Palmer's first wife, Susan, died of cancer after 22 years of marriage. The couple welcomed daughter Emily and son Michael together. Clive has been married to his second wife, Anna Topalov, since 2007, and they have two daughters, Lucy and Mary. Palmer follows the Roman Catholic faith and organized pro-life rallies when he was a member of Right to Life Australia as a university student. In early 2022, Clive was diagnosed with both pneumonia and COVID-19. In 2022, it was reported that he had purchased a Rolls-Royce that was previously owned by King Edward VIII and a Mercedes-Benz 770 that belonged to Adolf Hitler. Palmer acquired the cars for a vintage car museum he plans to open; construction on the museum began during the summer of 2025. In March 2020, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) brought charges against Clive for "dishonestly gaining an advantage and dishonestly using his position as the director of a corporation." The charges were related to improper money transfers before the 2013 general election.

Real Estate

Palmer's family has owned more than 60 properties. According to a January 2026 article on news.com.au, "The family has spent over $215 million buying the properties they currently hold in their own names, according to property records, with the former politician's SEQ empire spanning the Gold Coast's most exclusive addresses – from nine consecutive waterfront blocks on Sovereign Islands to a $28 million mansion on Mermaid Beach's 'Millionaires Row' – and stunning homes in Brisbane such as a sprawling half a kilometre of Brisbane River frontage in Fig Tree Pocket."

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