Aussie heiress loses $19 million inheritance
The “secret” daughter of late Perth mining billionaire Michael Wright has had her inheritance slashed from $25 million to $6 million after his estate appealed.
Olivia Mead, who was born from Wright’s relationship with Elizabeth Anne Mead after he divorced three wives, was aged 19 in 2015 when she was successfully awarded $25 million in inheritance.
Wright, whose vast fortune was estimated at anywhere between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion when he died in 2012, had initially set aside $3 million for his fourth child – a small sum when only compared to the more than $800 million he left to her three much older siblings.
Wright left his two eldest daughters, Leonie Baldock and Alexandra Burt, about $400 million each and his son Myles Wright $20 million.
Mead decided to take the estate to court arguing that the $3 million trust was not inadequate.
However, on Wednesday, a full bench of judges unanimously set aside the earlier orders of $25 million sum, instead awarding the now 22-year-old $6.14 million.
During the appeal, the estate took aim at Mead’s extravagant wishlist, which was submitted to estimate her future needs.
- A crystal-studded Kuhn-Bosendorfer piano worth more than $1 million
- A diamond-encrusted bass guitar worth $250,000
- A home five times the Perth median price with "luxury furnishings"
- $950 per week for food, alcohol and fine wine
- $10,000 a year for handbags and fashion accessories
- $300 a week for clothes
- 20 pairs of $300 shoes every year for the next 75 years,
- Two pairs of Tiffany and Co sunglasses each year
- Pilates lessons until she is 97
- Provision for four children that she planned to have.
Mead’s lawyer Lindsay Ellison argued the court could take everything into account when assessing what a daughter from a wealthy family might need for the rest of her life, saying the $25 million award was large but “minimal compared to the size of the estate”.
Ms Mead was not present in court when the judgment was handed down.