Tech tycoon Ed Craven, fitness influencer and Seafolly Australia ambassador Steph Claire Smith and businessman Adrian Portelli are among the young richlisters redefining Melbourne’s property market. Pictures: Jake Nowakowski, Simon Lekias, Jason Edwards.
Forget Baby Boomers, young rich listers with tens of millions of dollars to splash on a home are reshaping the top end of Melbourne’s property market.
Big tech names like cryptocurrency casino tycoon Ed Craven and eCommerce king Ruslan Kogan have dropped jaw-dropping sums of up to nine figures on multiple Toorak pads in recent years.
They have blazed a trail that has led to an emerging group of wealthy buyers in their 30s and 40s snapping up homes worth upwards of $10m across the city.
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A new report from prestige agency Marshall White has named young tech tycoons as a significant influence on Melbourne’s premium listings.
Aside from technology entrepreneurs, other big spenders include retail, hospitality, sport and social media success stories.
Cryptocurrency power couple Michael Egorov and partner Anna, fitness influencer Steph Claire Smith, billionaire businessman Adrian Portelli and former My Kitchen Rules contestant and developer Zana Pali are among Melbourne real estate’s young movers and shakers buying up mansions.
In 2022, Mr Craven made headlines when he purchased a long-vacant Toorak mansion for$80,000,088 and another Toorak house for about $38m. He was still in his 20s at the time.
Marshall White director Marcus Chiminello was involved in both transactions.
The mansion that cryptocurrency casino co-founder Ed Craven bought for $88,000,088. It was known as Toorak’s “ghost mansion” after sitting empty for years. Picture: Jake Nowakowski.
As two of Australia’s most successful wellness personalities, business partners Laura Henshaw and Steph Claire Smith have both spent millions on Melbourne real estate. Picture: Jason Edwards.
Billionaire Adrian Portelli with the McLaren Senna GTR that was craned into his $39m Melbourne penthouse. Picture: Supplied/Instagram.
Now in his early 40s, Mr Kogan has snapped up several properties including a $38.8m Toorak mansion in a deal inked by Mr Chiminello and colleague Richard Mackinnon.
In addition, the Kogan.com founder has reportedly bought a circa-$20m home for his parents.
Meanwhile, Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov, in his 30s, and wife Anna have splurged a total $59.25m on two neighbouring Hawthorn properties.
And two years ago, a then 34-year-old Mr Portelli purchased a $39m Melbourne penthouse.
The founder of online promotions and giveaway business LMCT+ had a crane hoist his $3m McLaren GTR car more than 50 storeys up and put inside the home.
One of the two Hawthorn houses that the decentralised exchange platform Curve co-founder Michael Egorov and his wife Anna Egorova splashed a total of more than $59m on.
Anastasia and Ruslan Kogan at the 2024 Melbourne Cup. Mr Kogan founded the eCommerce company Kogan.com while aged in twenties, from his parent’s garage. Picture: Instagram.
Ruslan Kogan bought this Flinders house, with an indoor pool, for $12.91m in 2021. He spent a total of about $15m on properties in the area.
According to Marshall White’s Prestige Property Index 2024-25 financial year report, a mix of young, rising tech wealth, successful IPOs, generational inheritance and ongoing international migration means Melbourne’s upscale housing market is attracting a wider diversity of age groups.
Mr Chiminello said the internet meant money could now be made far more quickly compared to decades ago.
“Which then allows people, whether it’s in their 20s or 30s, to get out there and spend $20m, $30m, $40m, $50m in their first significant property purchase,” he said.
He’s noticed many mega-successful younger buyers want impressive homes where they can entertain away from the public eye.
“We’re seeing fully customised bars, we’re seeing sort-of speak-easies and also setups like nightclubs within homes, through to pickleball courts,” Mr Chiminello said.
He added that buyers also tended to prefer off-the-market sales, as they valued privacy.
Self-tanning label Bondi Sands co-founder Blair James and his wife Melanie sold their Kew house for $7.1m in 2024. Marshall White Boroondara’s Nick Ptak fielded multiple offers from local and overseas-based buyers for the circa-1897 home.
Blair James and his wife Melanie were married in Lake Como, Italy, in 2022.
Morrell and Koren buyer’s advocate to Melbourne’s top end, Matthew Cleverdon, said there had been a “significant” emergence of cashed-up young buyers across the past five years.
From arriving at appointments on a skateboard to making their millions through streaming themselves playing video games online, they are approaching wealth and luxury homes in a very different way to past generations of rich listers.
Mr Cleverdon said he had seen buyers in their early 20s pay more than eight figures for a residence.
Steph Claire Smith and husband Josh Miller sold this Brighton East house for $7.855m in 2024. The residence features a pool, spa, outdoor barbecue terrace and 240-bottle wine cellar. Whitefox sales director Lana Samuels and senior adviser Michael Derham managed the sales campaign.
Steph Claire Smith and Josh Miller at the Melbourne bar Arbory Afloat, showcasing the Australian eyewear brand Soda Shades, which Mr Miller co-founded. Picture: Nicole Cleary.
He has also spent time educating well-to-do yet inexperienced young purchasers, keen to find a home that reflects their success and lifestyle, about the process of buying a multimillion dollar abode.
Without expert guidance, they might think little of paying more than a property’s market value if it’s in their dream location or available within a certain time frame, Mr Cleverdon noted.
“It’s very difficult in a world where you can get most things instantly online,” Mr Cleverdon said.
“Whereas getting a great house in a great street and a great suburb takes time.”
Zana Pali and her husband Gianni Romano, who have now split up, offloaded their Brighton home for about $10m in 2024. DOW Real Estate managing director Taylor Dow and Kay & Burton Bayside director Matthew Pillios oversaw the listing.
Brighton-based Fredman director Joel Fredman, in his 30s himself, has noticed a higher volume of affluent buyers in their 30s and 40s – in fields as diverse as cosmetics, tech and insurance – since the Covid pandemic.
“I’m a guy in his 30s selling properties, and you’re meeting people (the same age) who have budgets of $3m to $15m looking for something high-end, it’s quite amazing,” Mr Fredman said.
He’s also observed more moneyed young buyers from Sydney, Perth and Tasmania wanting to settle in Melbourne.
Zana Pali will represent Australia at the Miss Europe Continental beauty contest in Italy, to be held in November 2025. Picture: Jason Edwards.
MELBOURNE PROPERTY: THE YOUNG AND THE RICH LIST
Ed Craven, online cryptocurrency casino and live-streaming platform co-founder
Homes: Toorak mansions, bought for $80,000,088 and $38m-$40m.
Ruslan Kogan, eCommerce companies’ founder
Homes: Toorak mansion, bought for $38.8m
Toorak mansion, bought for circa-$20m
Flinders, two properties, bought for a total $15m+ together
Toorak, two adjoining homes, bought for a total $8.9m
Michael Egorov and Anna Egorova, cryptocurrency power couple
Homes: Two neighbouring Hawthorn properties, bought for $41m and $18.25m
Michael Egorov and Anna Egorova bought this Hawthorn mansion for $41m.
Adrian Portelli, online rewards’ club founder and property investor
Homes: Apart from buying and listing several properties from television show The Block, he bought a $39m Melbourne penthouse
Owen Kerr, foreign exchange broker co-founder
Homes: South Yarra, bought for $36m
Sean Senvirtne, online retail marketplace founder
Homes: Brighton vacant block, bought for circa-$22m
Brighton apartment (including a beach box), bought for $1.6m-$1.75m
The couple behind the Aussie skin care sensation Bali Body, Laura Foley and Dave Oosterloo, sold their Mt Martha house for $4.7m in January 2025.
Jack Merlo, acclaimed landscape designer
Homes: Has bought and sold a handful of Toorak homes for prices ranging from $12.5m to $20m+
Steve Phar, SMS information service founder and property developer
Homes: Toorak mansion, sold for $15.5m
Dean Mintz, online fashion retailer founder
Homes: Toorak mansion, bought for $14.5m
Laura Foley and Dave Oosterloo, skin care brand founders
Homes: Brighton house, sold for $9.75m
Mt Martha house, sold for $4.7m
Famous landscape designer Jack Merlo snapped up this Toorak mansion from the Myer family for about $20m, in 2025. Forbes Global Properties Mike Gibson and Marshall White’s Marcus Chiminello both worked on the deal.
Zana Pali, former My Kitchen Rules star, beauty queen, developer and lawyer
Homes: Brighton house, sold for about $10m
Steph Clare Smith, fitness influencer, fitness app co-founder, podcast co-host and model
Homes: Brighton East house, sold for $7.855m
Scott and Alex Pendlebury, he’s a Collingwood player and she’s a nutritionist, presenter and influencer
Homes: Bayside house, bought for about $7m
Elwood house, sold for $6.5m
Scott and Alex Pendlebury at the 2024 Collingwood Best And Fairest Awards in Melbourne. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake/AFL Photos/via Getty Images.
Blair James, self-tanning brand co-founder
Homes: Kew house, sold for $7.1m
Blairgowrie house, sold for $2.12m
Laura Henshaw, fitness app co-founder (alongside Steph Clare Smith) and chief executive, podcast co-host, author and model
Homes: Brighton house, bought for $4.4m
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