And the winner for 2012 Australian Gold Fogey award is Nathan Tinkler

The former electrician is a shining example of the resources sector boom - and bust. In 2006 he borrowed $500,000 to buy a small mine in Central Queensland. By the start of this year the 36-year-old had parlayed that into an incredible $1 billion fortune and a spot on the rich list.

It didn't last long.

Tinkler's double-down strategy didn't work when resource prices tumbled, leaving him dangerously exposed and reportedly heavily in debt. His helicopter and jet have now been repossessed. The tax office is circling his beloved Newcastle Knights. And his luck has even run out with the nags - he reportedly blew $300 million setting up his own horse racing stable, but the head trainer revealed there wasn't enough money to cover the cost of hay.

Of course, there are no comparisons between Australian economy and Mr Tinkler - a man who hitched his wagon to the resources boom, used the proceeds in the good times thinking it was never going to end, and was left heavily in debt with nothing to show for it after the boom went bust.