The gold company bosses being enriched by soaring share prices and bullion’s record run

Some of Australia’s best-known gold company bosses are minting hefty wealth gains off bullion’s record price surge, catapulting up rich lists as their personal stock holdings crash through $100 million. US President Donald Trump’s new round of tariffs sent gold to a fresh peak of near $US3000 an ounce on Tuesday, pulling a swag of miners led by Northern Star Resources, Ramelius Resources, Capricorn Metals and Gold Road Resources to record highs. Gold stocks account for eight of the ASX200’s top-10 best performers in 2025, with most up between 27 per cent and 33 per cent, easily exceeding the lagging mining sub-index’s 5.2 per cent growth. However, the gains have preceded Mr Trump’s election in November and the recent disruptive trade and geopolitical moves that have reinforced gold’s status as a store of value in uncertain times. The likes of Genesis Minerals and Evolution Mining have doubled in value over the past 12 months. The gains have delighted loyal gold investors and further enriched company bosses who have acquired stock in their companies as part of their remuneration and reward schemes. Evolution shares closed 5 per cent higher at a 20-year high of $6.22 on Tuesday, revaluing executive chair Jake Klein’s 14.4 million shares at nearly $90 million. However, Mr Klein also claims 2.86 million performance rights that could potentially lift the total value of his stock to $107.4m. Over at Genesis, the handsome stock rewards which accompanied managing director Raleigh Finlayson’s appointment to the company’s helm 3½ years ago are delivering millions for the Kalgoorlie School of Mines graduate. With the stock tripling since late 2022 to $3.22 on Thursday, Mr Finlayson’s share holding has leapt in value to $84m. However, he is also sitting on a $26m windfall, courtesy of 12.25 options that are exercisable at just $1.05 by November 25. That’s in addition to five million performance and retention options worth $16m at the current share price. Another gold industry veteran, Capricorn Metals executive chair Mark Clark, is also reaping the rewards. His 17.3m shares are worth nearly $139m at Tuesday’s new closing peak of $8.01, which values the company at $3.3b. Another $3.1m in performance rights gives him more than $140m of stock in Capricorn. Northern Star Resources hit a record $18.80 on Tuesday before closing four per cent better at $18.54, sending the company’s value to $21.1b. The stock has been on a tear since Christmas, adding 21.5 per cent. Boss Stuart Tonkin’s holding has increased in value to $40.2m. Ora Banda Mining’s Luke Creagh could lay claim to be one of gold’s quickest wealth creators. Ora Banda was last year’s best performing gold stock, nearly quadrupling from 25¢ on the back of Mr Creagh’s turnaround strategy. As of Tuesday, it was trading five per cent higher at 91.5¢ with a market value of $1.7b. Mr Creagh in November sold more than $7m of stock but retains $59 million of ordinary shares, including 50 million shares that come out of escrow at the end of June. However, there are also 55.5 million performance rights, or another $51.5m in potential shares to add to his stockpile.

The gold company bosses being enriched by soaring share prices and bullion’s record run

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