New entry McGregor beaten by Dublin tech entrepreneur in 2018 Rich List
MIXED martial arts champion Conor McGregor is the highest profile new entry on this year’s Sunday Independent Rich List, which charts the financial ups and downs of the country’s wealthiest 250 people.
However, with an estimated wealth of €140m he is not the highest of the nine new entries on this year’s rankings.
Tommy Kelly of eShopWorld, which facilitates international ecommerce for the likes of Nike and Victoria’s Secret, comes in ahead of the sportsman with an estimated wealth of around €150m.
A recent investment valued the business at €300m and Kelly owns close to half. Staff also have share options in the company.
In March it announced plans to create up to 250 new jobs and said it expects turnover to reach $1bn by 2020.
Last year was a good one for the wealthy, despite currency fluctuations which may have had a negative impact on some international assets.
However, stocks have enjoyed a very strong run, while investors in Irish property have seen valuations soar — particularly buyers who snapped up bargains during the crash.
The top 10 entries have a collective estimated worth of just over €50bn compared with €47.9bn in the 2017 Rich List.
The entries come from the worlds of business, sport and entertainment.
Tech enterprises have created some of the most significant new wealth in recent years with the young Collison brothers from Limerick creating a multibillion euro business. On paper both Patrick and John are worth close to €1bn each.
Few tech entrepreneurs come close to the Collisons, but several of Ireland’s most promising entrepreneurs come from that world.
The biggest gainers over the last year include Linda and Dan Kiely, whose Corkbased call centre business was sold to Canadian company Telus International.
In total, the deal could be worth up to CA$152m (€100m), Telus International confirmed.
The list is headed by the Mistry family, with an estimated fortune of €15.6bn.
Based in India, Patsy Perin Dubash was born in Dublin and married one of India’s richest men, Pallonji Mistry. He and their adult children all hold Irish passports. Their wealth comes from a large stake in Tata, one of the world’s largest conglomerates.
The second entry on the list is the Weston family, which owns Brown Thomas. Sunday Independent Rich List inside