Australia’s 10 most powerful business leaders in 2023

The deal made Squadron the biggest owner of renewable power assets in the country, giving him enormous sway over the pace and success of the nation’s decarbonisation effort.

4. Shemara Wikramanayake

You won’t hear Wikramanayake banging the table in public policy debates, but the Macquarie Group chief executive has been a persistent advocate for Australia to play its role in the energy transition. She also has promoted the important role infrastructure plays in economic growth. While Macquarie isn’t afraid of wielding its balance sheet at home – as can be seen in the disruptive role it has played in the Australian mortgage market – Wikramanayake can be influential as a bridge between the Australian and international markets.

5. Meg O’Neill

It’s telling that when a group of anti-fossil fuel activists decided to make their campaign personal last month, it was the Perth home of the Woodside Energy chief executive that they targeted. O’Neill is not only one of the few leaders still making the case for oil and gas, but she’s one of the few pursuing the greenfield projects that the world will still need in the coming decades, including the giant Scarborough gas project off Western Australia.

6. Kerry Stokes

Once upon a time, corporate power in Australia was closely tied to media ownership. Billionaire Stokes is a throwback to those good old days. Stokes’ majority stake in conglomerate Seven Group gives him reach into sectors as diverse as mining, building material and energy, but Seven West Media, where Stokes is chairman, is the real source of his power.

This is especially the case in his home town of Perth, where Stokes’ grip on the local media makes him a kingmaker in politics and business.

7. Paul Schroder

As the chief executive of AustralianSuper, Schroder helps look after more than $300 billion in retirement savings for more than 3 million members. And with that figure growing by $20 billion a week, his clout in capital markets is undeniable. While the power of union-backed industry super funds such as AusSuper grows, there is a super-friendly Labor government in Canberra. But Schroder has been willing to challenge Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ suggestion that super funds should support affordable housing, making it clear that savings belong to members, not the country.

8. Rob Scott

The Wesfarmers chief executive oversees a business empire that includes some of the biggest employers in the country: Bunnings, Kmart, Target and Officeworks. But Scott is always prepared to advocate for the broader business community, whether that be on tax reform, industrial relations or productivity. This year, he emerged as one of the fiercest critics of the Victorian state government’s payroll tax hit on big business, labelling it a threat to investment and job creation.

9. Mike Cannon-Brookes

Whether it is as an activist, an investor or one of the country’s most prominent tech sector leaders, Cannon-Brookes always appears willing to challenge the often rigid thinking of the Australian corporate sector.

Outside his role as Atlassian co-founder, he remains a powerful force in Australia’s start-up arena and particularly in the energy sector, where he has championed both the embattled Sun Cable renewable energy project and AGL Energy’s decarbonisation push.

10. Phil King

Few deals happen in the Australian market without coming across the desk of King. He is the co-founder and chief investment officer of Regal Funds Management, which runs one of the nation’s most active trading firms and is seen as a kingmaker for company floats and capital raisings. King’s power has expanded in recent times following last year’s acquisition of VGI Partners, which gave Regal a listed presence.

King has used this to pursue other deals, including a tilt at storied fund manager Perpetual and more recently the ASX-listed Pacific Current Group.

The panel who decided the 2023 corporate power list included Michael Stutchbury, Kylar Loussikian, James Thomson, Fiona Buffini, Anthony Macdonald, Vesna Poljak and Jennifer Hewett.

The AFR Magazine annual Power issue is out Friday, September 29, inside The Australian Financial Review. Follow AFR Mag on Twitter and Instagram.