Seventeen of the world’s billionaire individuals and families are Irish citizens, according to a new report on the gap between rich and poor. This equates to 3.5 billionaires per million residents here — the fifth-highest ratio in the world. Only Hong Kong, Cyprus, Switzerland and Singapore have more billionaires per head of population.
The US leads the world in total billionaires with 607. China has 324, Germany 114, India 106 and Russia 98.
Oxfam says growing global inequality means the world’s 2,153 billionaires own more wealth than 4.6 billion people.
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The report — published to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos — suggests these are Ireland’s richest people.
Estimated net worth comes chiefly from the 2019 ‘Sunday Independent’ Rich List…
1 THE WESTONS — €7.1bn
Hilary and Galen Weston founded the Primark brand as part of amassing a family fortune topping €7bn. Their sprawling Wittington Investments retail portfolio includes Brown Thomas and Arnotts in Ireland, the Loblaw grocery chain in Canada, the high-end British chain Selfridges, and Fortnum & Mason. The Westons today divide their time between Toronto and a luxurious gated community in Florida.
2 THE COLLISONS — €5bn
If you bought anything online recently, the odds are strong that the payment was processed by Stripe, the firm founded in 2010 by Limerick brothers Patrick and John Collison. They sold their first company, Shuppa, while still in their teens. Both brothers dropped out of college early — from MIT and Harvard respectively — to develop the online payments technology that would make their fortunes.
Stripe’s software allows businesses to connect websites and apps instantly with credit card and banking systems.
The idea attracted early backing from Tesla founder Elon Musk and PayPal’s Peter Thiel. Businesses including Lyft and Facebook have turned Stripe into the financial backbone of their operations. Despite their wealth, the brothers share a modest apartment in San Francisco. Their biggest luxury is a private plane.
3 John Dorrance — €2.44bn
John Dorrance III’s chemist grandfather invented Campbell’s formula for condensed soup a century ago. It has generated massive wealth for his heirs, and John ‘Ippy’ Dorrance III cashed in his 10.5pc stake in Campbell’s Soup in the 1990s. Around the same time, he moved to Ireland with his Finnish-born wife. He was granted a passport after he invested $1.5m in a tree-planting project and is believed to have a home in Dartry, Dublin.
4 Dermot Desmond — €2.1bn
Long considered one of Ireland’s greatest deal-makers, Mr Desmond is credited with developing Dublin’s now booming IFSC in the 1980s. He is currently the largest shareholder at troubled travel software firm Datalex.
The Cork-born businessman started out in banking and made his first fortune in 1994 after selling the stockbroking firm he founded, NCB, for €49m. His wide-ranging investments have included stakes in diamond mines, Celtic FC and Independent News & Media.
Last year he sold his 15pc stake in INM for €22m, roughly breaking even in the process.
His most lucrative deal was the 2006 sale of London City Airport for €1bn, which his investment group had bought for just €30m in 1995. He also made €120m from his original €475,000 investment in Denis O’Brien’s Esat.
5 Denis O’Brien — €2.05bn
Mr O’Brien made his first fortune from Esat Telecom which he built up in the 1990s and sold to British Telecom Group in 2000 for €2.4bn.
He brought his telecoms expertise to the Caribbean with Digicel, which today operates in more than 30 countries across Asia, Oceania and Central America.
Another early success was winning a new radio licence for Dublin, 98FM, which he still owns through Communicorp, also home to Today FM and Newstalk.
He took a loss exceeding €450m last year when he offloaded his majority holding in INM. He also has investments in property, healthcare and hospitality, including the Beacon Hospital in Dublin and the PGA Catalunya and Quinta do Lago resorts on the Iberian peninsula.
He owns a superyacht named Nero and a luxury ski chalet in the French Alps called Chalet Chocolat Chaud (Hot Chocolate Chalet).
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