Region’s richest revealed as wealth list is published
THE owner of the former Psyche store on Teesside, Mike Ashley, has been named as one of the wealthiest people with links to the region.
The businessman, who owns the well-known Middlesbrough store, which recently rebranded as Frasers, is among the richest people with links to the region, according to The Sunday Times Rich List published today.
However top of that list are David and Simon Reuben, who have a 10% holding in Newcastle United, which was previously owned by Mr Ashley.
The list reveals the wealth of the 350 richest people in Britain.
There are 171 billionaires in the UK recorded this year, down 6 from 2022, the first fall for 14 years.
The combined wealth of the UK billionaires is £683.856bn, up £30.734bn (or 4.5%) on the total wealth of the billionaires in last year’s Rich List.
Well-known Teesside brothers and entrepreneurs, Alastair and Michael Powell, of Cleveland Cable Company, made it onto the list further down among the multimillionaires at number 221 on the list – with a worth of £780m –
up £103m on the previous year.
Last year, the India-born Reuben brothers teamed up with Saudi investors and the British financier, Amanda Staveley, to buy Newcastle United from Mr Ashley. David’s son Jamie is a director of the Premier League club. David, 83, and Simon, 81, came to Britain in the 1950s.
Andy Currie, co-owner and director of chemical giant Ineos, saw his estimated fortunes rise by £7.058bn. When energy prices rocketed and Europe shivered at the start of the Ukraine conflict, the chemical giant, Ineos, which employs hundreds on Teesside, grew exponentially.
Andy has been at the top of the business since 1999 and owns almost 20% of the £40bn company.
Often billed as the “definitive guide to wealth in the UK”, The Sunday Times Rich List is based on “identifiable” wealth.
That includes things like land, property and other assets such as art and racehorses, or significant shares in publicly quoted companies.
It does not include bank accounts, to which the The Times has no access.
Fellow co-owner and Chief financial officer at Ineos, John Reece, is another of the richest people in the region, with his wealth increasing by £7.025bn.
John is one of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s key lieutenants and owns nearly 20% of Ineos – and a superyacht.
Robert Watts, compiler of the list, said: “This year’s Sunday Times Rich List shows a golden period for the super rich is over.
“For the first time in 14 years we’ve seen the number of UK billionaires fall.
“Two years ago we raised concerns about an unsettling boom in the fortunes of the very wealthy that continued unchecked during the political instability around Brexit and the pandemic.
“This is not a crash – but there are household names who have lost vast sums over the past year.”