Despite the family trust shenanigans, Gina Rinehart looks likely to once again dominate the BRW Rich 200 list.

Most power players have oodles of charm and charisma, so it's no wonder they collect some unlikely allies on their way to the top. Here are six power partnerships that cross the ideological and generational divide.

Neil Chenoweth, the veteran journalist driving the Australian Financial Review's coverage of alleged pay-tv piracy by a News Corp subsidiary, has been acclaimed as one of the country's most forensic and tough-minded reporters – but also as a purveyor of beat ups and conspiracy theories.

On a list dominated by CEOs and executive chairmen, Peter Meurs stands out. He's the director of development at Fortescue Metals Group and owns $44.4 million worth of the Pilbara miner's shares.

Andrew Forrest's critics say his charity efforts are just a PR play. But that's not what the people of Marysville think about him after he helped rebuild after the 2009 Victorian bushfires.

Speculation is rife that mining billionaire Gina Rinehart wants a seat on the board of Fairfax Media.

If Wayne Swan and his prime minister are worried about billionaires campaigning against Labor government policy, The Power Index has one piece of advice.

Wayne Swan in attack of the billionaires, Clive Palmer kicks a compliment at Frank Lowy, the Melbourne F1 stoush and Justice Gummow gets dystopian about the corporate watchdog. Here are today's best power moves.

Australia has been ranked No. 11 on a list of the world's richest countries per capita, lagging behind the Middle East, Europe and the US.

It's 113 years since Simcha Baevski arrived in Melbourne as a near-penniless immigrant from Belarus. But this remarkable man is still changing the face of Australia, almost four decades after his death.

This week we begin profiling Australia's most influential Rich Crusaders, the people who use their cash to influence public debate and promote causes they believe in. Here, Paul Barry presents the shortlist.

Money Talks. And no one in Australia has more than Gina Rinehart, a billionaire twenty times over. But can she use that money to buy influence over two of Australia's most famous newspapers?

Falling iron ore prices have failed to prevent Gina Rinehart from retaining top spot on SmartCompany's special end-of-year rich list.

Everybody loves a bit of schadenfreude, so here we present seven of the most memorable power fails of 2011. Think names like Thomson, Forrest and Overland.

For Labor, the latest opinion poll result is a bit like the moment in the 1976 film Rocky, when Sylvester Stallone calls blindly over his shoulder to his trainer: Cut me!

One of our favourite billionaire nicknames, Andrew Forrest's 'Twiggy', might soon be a thing of the past if the West Australian rock kicker has his way.

Charity, it seems, continues at home for Andrew Forrest, who has embarked on an intriguing new effort to help his fellow Fortescue directors buy shares in the iron ore company.

The mastermind behind the hit Kevin 07 advertising campaign has been tapped to orchestrate a multi-million dollar Qantas media blitz, aimed at selling the airline's controversial international restructure.

You don't become one of Australia's richest men without making friends in pretty high places. So, just who are some of Andrew Forrest's mates? And what have they done for him lately?