Daniel Van Boom
Daniel Van Boom tracks where technology, innovation and money intersect, covering how capital shapes the fortunes of founders, investors and high‑growth companies for Forbes Australia. His reporting sits at the junction of executive pay, funding rounds, policy change and the rise of AI‑driven infrastructure, with a bias toward hard numbers and clear explanations. He brings a long background in technology and crypto coverage to stories that explain who is getting paid, on what terms, and what that signals about the next phase of the tech economy.
AI bonanza and executive pay
A defining strand of his current work is scrutinising outsized pay packets in the shadow of the AI boom. In his coverage of IREN’s co‑founders, he details how the board of the data centre operator approved a multi‑year equity package for co‑CEOs Daniel and Will Roberts worth around US$788 million each at current prices, or roughly $1.14 billion in local currency, tying the awards to a four‑year vesting schedule. He explains the structure of the grants, the requirement that each tranche be held for an additional two years before selling, and the way this locks the brothers into the company’s long‑term growth.
He sets that story against the backdrop of IREN’s earlier success on the rich list and the brothers’ previous eight‑figure annual pay, showing how a business that began in Bitcoin mining has ridden demand for AI compute into the realm of ultra‑high executive compensation.
Rethinking Australia’s tech settings
Van Boom repeatedly returns to how tax and regulation influence where founders build companies and deploy capital. In a feature on Linktree co‑founder Alex Zaccaria, he reports on frustration with proposed changes to the capital gains tax rate and the impact that could have on talent and investment.
He captures Zaccaria’s decision to split time between Australia and San Francisco and his instruction to advisers to explore a permanent move, using that narrative to illustrate how globally mobile tech entrepreneurs respond when incentives change. In another piece, he draws on comments from Airtree co‑founder Daniel Petre about the same capital gains proposals, contrasting vocal criticism with a call for more constructive engagement than long online screeds.
Across these stories he positions tax settings not as an abstract policy debate but as a live factor in whether unicorn founders, venture capital and future jobs stay or go.
Space, startups and pre‑seed capital
His entrepreneur coverage is not limited to software platforms and data centres. On his Forbes Australia author page he highlights Outlier Space’s unusually large $10.5 million pre‑seed round, describing how the startup plans to build a satellite designed to help companies manufacture pharmaceuticals, silicon and other advanced materials in microgravity. Van Boom underlines both the technical ambition and the capital intensity of such a project, framing it as a bet that space‑based manufacturing can unlock new supply chains. The piece reflects a broader pattern in his work: picking out early‑stage companies with unconventional technology and investor backing, and then spelling out what their fundraising says about emerging themes in deep tech and climate‑adjacent innovation.
From Big Tech and crypto to venture finance
Before joining Forbes Australia, Van Boom built his career as a technology correspondent at a business news outlet, covering Big Tech, cryptocurrencies, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence for several years.
Prior to that he spent close to a decade as a senior writer at a global technology publication, where he focused on cryptocurrency, NFTs, culture and international news and earned recognition as an award‑winning journalist. That history means he approaches today’s AI infrastructure deals, token‑fuelled fortunes and regulatory fights with a long memory for past tech cycles and hype. Away from the page he appears on technology and media podcasts as a business journalist at Forbes Australia, talking through themes like digital platforms, AI and the financing that underpins them.
Across outlets and formats, his hallmark is treating founders, investors and policymakers as parts of the same system and using clear, unadorned reporting to show how money moves through it.
4 more finance journalists.
Aaron Bell
Aaron Bell stands out for turning broker research and complex market commentary into clear stories for everyday investors. He writes about the Australian share market as a journalist for The Motley Fool Australia and also works as a freelance journalist and editor focused on financial topics and the Australian economy. His beat covers ASX-listed companies and exchange-traded funds. He writes on broker recommendations, valuation changes, price targets, upside forecasts, earnings results, guidance, and share price reactions. He also covers thematic and emerging markets ETFs, NASDAQ-focused funds, and sectors such as space-related industries. In his reporting, he uses numbers, rating changes, and target prices to explain risk, reward, and what has changed in the business.
Adam McCleery
Adam McCleery tracks the money and deals shaping advertising and media agencies. He is a journalist at AdNews, covering agency pitches, account moves, media buying decisions, budgets, contracts and settlements. His beat sits between finance, media and marketing, with a focus on advertiser confidence, commercial outcomes and the pressures facing agencies, brands and media owners. He reports on television, streaming, subscription models and platform strategies, as well as artificial intelligence, data, privacy and ad technology. His past work spans print, digital and business-to-business titles. He writes in a straightforward, deal-driven style. He follows how brands review, consolidate or shift agency relationships, and how pricing, measurement, fragmentation, policy and economic conditions affect spending, investment, risk and the value of agency services.
Adelaide Miller
Adelaide Miller is an award-winning national business reporter at the ABC who stands out for linking markets coverage with accountability reporting on how finance, regulation and corporate decisions affect workers, consumers and small businesses. She covers superannuation, small business obligations, the ASX, global indices, inflation, government debt, investor sentiment, cryptocurrency, corporate conduct, mortgage stress, and consumer impact. She reports on the gap between legislative intent and on-the-ground practice, and she often uses data, live markets context, and direct reporting from affected people. Her background includes ABC Investigations, Background Briefing, and Four Corners. She also has reported on AI-driven political campaigning, Telstra’s Senate inquiry scrutiny, family law, and a personal essay on her grandmother’s dementia. She works across TV, radio, online, and podcast formats.
Adeshola Ore
Adeshola Ore reports on finance and public policy through their effects on everyday life. They are a reporter at the Guardian, covering tax debates, public spending, institutional policy and the communities shaped by them. Their beat also includes politics, rights, social equity, climate, migration, Indigenous policy, agriculture, food safety and public health. Notable reporting has covered bird flu and egg supplies, catastrophic floods, death cap mushroom poisonings, refugee communities, university misconduct and place-naming rules in Tasmania. Earlier work included global climate conferences, international affairs and social policy. Ore reports through live political coverage, ground-level interviews, documents and hearings. They write news features and explainers that clarify complex rules, risks and rights. They also contribute to the Guardian’s daily news podcast, bringing field reporting and interviews with affected communities into wider discussions of politics and policy.