Overview
Nigel Austin (born 24 September 1970) is an Australian business and horse racing entrepreneur. Austin is the founder and 90% majority owner of the Cotton On Group clothing and stationery group with brands including Cotton On, Supre, Factorie and Typo.
Early life
Austin grew up in Geelong, Victoria. Austin's late father, Grant Austin, ran a publicly traded clothing wholesale and import business called the Austin Group, where Austin started out learning about the fashion industry in his school holidays. In his first outing at the market he sold one jacket for $30. The following week he returned with a cheaper offer, after he negotiated with his father who was the supplier, which resulted in all 20 selling out. Austin enrolled in university to study business but dropped out after a year to focus on his growing garment business. He didn't tell his father that he had dropped out for an entire year and could prove his business was booming.
Career
In 1991, Austin's first store was small space in Geelong behind a butcher shop run by his grandfather and he sourced merchandise from his father. Money is raised through selling specially branded merchandise in group stores such as bracelets, water bottles and tote bags.
Personal life
Austin has six children, three of those born with ex-wife Tania Austin who is the CEO of women's fashion brand, Decjuba. His current wife is Melanie Austin. Austin is involved in horse racing and owns Rosemont Stud, over in Gnarwarre and Ceres, Victoria. The logo of the stud is a red and white gatecrasher, that originally was the logo for the Cotton On chain in its early years.
Net worth
In 2017, Forbes Asia assessed Austin's net worth at 1.36 billion. , The Australian Financial Review assessed his net worth at 2.42 billion. align="center" align="right" $1.96 billion align="center" align="right" - 2019 align="center" align="right" $2.68 billion align="center" align="right" - 2020 align="center" align="right" $1.92 billion align="center" align="right" - 2021 align="center" align="right" $1.93 billion align="center" align="right" - 2022 align="center" align="right" $2.00 billion align="center" align="right" - 2023 align="center" align="right" $2.00 billion align="center" align="right" - 2024 align="center" align="right" $2.43 billion align="center" align="right" - 2025 align="center" align="right" $2.42 billion align="center" align="right"