Rich List 2019: stock market turbulence reduces fortunes of Irish billionaires
SOME of Ireland’s richest people saw their wealth take a substantial hit over the past 12 months, mainly due to stock market volatility, according to the Sunday Independent Rich List 2019 which is published today.
Paul Coulson — the founder of packing giant Ardagh — saw his estimated worth fall by €435m, reducing it to just over €1bn. Shares in the company have fallen by over 45pc in the past year, from $20 to $11, leaving him nursing a paper loss of about €635m, and with a stake now worth €775m. It’s believed he has received about €295m from distributions after share buybacks, about €200m more than previously estimated.
A fall in the Ryanair share price edged its high-profile chief executive, Michael O’Leary, out of the billionaires’ club, according to Rich List estimates.
Last year, hundreds of flights were cancelled because of pilot and cabin crew strikes.
On Friday, the low-fares airline lowered its full-year profit guidance.
Ryanair shares were trading at around €16.60 a year ago and were at just under €10 on Friday. The fall in share price has knocked around €200m off his estimated worth, with the Rich List putting it at €935m.
Although stock markets, bonds and international property markets have had a turbulent time in recent months there are over a dozen new entries on the Rich List.
They include Donagh and Anita Kelly, who benefited when specialist utilities company KN Group was bought by leading French telecommunications firm Circet. The price tag was believed to be well in excess of €150m and Donagh Kelly was a substantial shareholder.
Another money-making deal came from financial services, when Blue Insurance was sold to a Zurich Insurance firm in a deal understood to be worth up to €70m. The main beneficiary was co-founder Ciaran Mulligan.
One of the biggest risers was Seamus Mulligan whose company Adapt Pharma sold for up to $735m.
See complete Rich List in Living Section