More Australian billionaires, personality over skills at big banks, and more top news

The news Australian professionals are talking about now, curated by LinkedIn’s editors. Join the conversation in the comments below.

Australia’s billionaires grew their wealth by $100M a day last year. According to Oxfam, Australia now has 43 billionaires — up from 33 in 2017 — and together they are worth $160B. But the top 1% of Australians now own as much as the bottom 70% combined. “Australia is among the wealthiest nations in the world, yet the pervasive gap between the haves and the have-nots persists," said Oxfam Australia CEO Helen Szoke. For example, according to the latest census about 80% of Indigenous adults have weekly incomes below the national average.

The Banking Royal Commission could change the way Australia’s big banks hire staff. In a note to clients, PwC said the banks — which directly employee 160,000 people (paywall) — could overhaul their workplace cultures by focusing on personality traits rather than technical skills. PwC said banks should look for wisdom, courage, adaptability, morality and resilience in new staff. Meanwhile, commissioner Kenneth Hayne -- who criticised a culture of greed at Australia’s banks -- was due to provide a final report to the government early this year.

SKINS has filed for bankruptcy in a Swiss court. The sportswear company sells compression products in 31 countries after launching in Australia in 1996 (paywall). Chairman Jamie Fuller said the company made a “lousy deal” when it sold a portion of the business to a private equity firm in 2008 during the GFC. Fuller said the company borrowed heavily to repurchase the stake after the financial crisis, and that “those borrowings have become unsustainable”. A trustee will be appointed to take charge of the company.

Treasury Wine Estates has removed its chief operating officer. The maker of Penfolds and Wolf Blass wines (paywall) said the immediate decision to part ways with Robert Foye came after an unspecified breach of "internal policies", which did not relate to the listed winemaker’s trading performance. Deputy COO Tim Ford will move into the role. Foye was overseeing the group’s business in the Americas from an office in the Napa Valley, and had reportedly been responsible for a rise in profits in China.

Buy-now pay-later provider Zip will argue the booming sector needs tighter regulation. According to The Australian (paywall), Zip will tell a senate inquiry that buy-now pay-later services should be forced to conduct mandatory income and credit checks, only allow repayments from bank accounts instead of credit cards and face a cap on the amount charged in late fees. Last year an ASIC review found one-in-six consumers had either become overdrawn, delayed bill payments or borrowed more money as a result of a buy now, pay later agreement.

Idea of the Day: A new year may bring a new boss, with fresh opportunities, says Pfizer executive vice president Sally Susman.

“As important as it is to set goals and plan ahead, being mindful of past successes as well as opportunities for growth is vital.”

What's your take on today’s stories? Share your thoughts in the comments. 

This article has been changed. Earlier: Farmers will begin to receive money raised by Coles through a milk levy.

— Ben Collins