Sam Tarascio Net Worth

Sam Tarascio has an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Sam Tarascio profile (figures as of October 20, 2026). That is up from $1 billion in 2018.

Sam Tarascio, whose full name is Salvatore Tarascio, is an Italian-born Australian property developer and the founder of Salta Properties. He was born on June 22, 1944, in Vizzini, Sicily, and moved to Australia in 1949, aged five. He grew up with his Sicilian migrant parents in the Melbourne suburb of Werribee.

He is married to Christine Tarascio, and they have three children, Sam, Lisa and David. In 2018 he published an autobiography called My Way. Before property he worked in pharmaceutical sales at the German company Hoechst, a job that led directly to his first development deal.

Olive oil runs in his family. His grandfather began pressing olives in Vizzini around 1930. Tarascio carried on the tradition at his Taralinga Estate on the Mornington Peninsula near Melbourne, where he imported an olive press in 2014. The estate's oil has won two gold medals at the New York International World Olive Oil Competition.

How Sam Tarascio made his money

Tarascio started in property development in the 1960s by building a warehouse for Hoechst, his former employer. He bought swampland and put up the building himself. That deal led him to found Salta Properties in 1972, a privately owned logistics and industrial development company.

Over the decades he built a portfolio of real estate across Melbourne, including a business park, two distribution sites, a large shopping mall and a market. He also owns several inner-city apartment developments. His eldest son, also named Sam, now runs Salta. From January 1, 2026, the elder Tarascio moved from founding director to non-executive founding director.

His career is a classic migrant success story. A boy who arrived in Australia at five went from selling pharmaceuticals to owning large chunks of Melbourne's industrial and retail property, while keeping the family's olive pressing tradition alive on the side. Logistics property in particular has become more valuable as online shopping drives demand for warehouses.

How Forbes has valued Sam Tarascio

Forbes first counted Tarascio at $1 billion in 2018. He rose to $1.2 billion in 2019 and stayed at that level from 2021 through 2023, then reached $1.3 billion in 2024.

His figure slipped to $1.1 billion in 2025 before returning to $1.2 billion on the 2026 World's Billionaires List. As of October 20, 2026, the Forbes real-time billionaires tracker showed $1.1 billion. The steady numbers reflect a privately held property portfolio in Melbourne whose value changes slowly over time.