Wakim is the founder and majority owner of privately held Phoenix Lithium, which is set to find a partner and capital to build a $US2 billion processing plant in California. He says it will be extracting and recovering about 64,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate annually from 2030 onwards. Phoenix’s valuation accounts for most ofWakim’swealth, but he also made headlines buying about $150 million worth of Victorian property last year,including three mansions in Melbourne’s Toorak.
