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That's rich ; Telecoms tycoon Denis O'Brien made EUR 579million last year.. and he's now worth EUR 4.3billion [Eire Region] [Mirror (UK)](Mirror (UK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) TYCOON Denis O'Brien made EUR 579million last year and is now worth EUR 4.3billion, it was revealed yesterday. The telecoms boss is one of five Irishmen on Forbes' 2014 billionaire list which is topped by Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Despite his massive fortune Mr O'Brien slid down one place in the world rankings and is now the 234th richest man in the world but is the second wealthiest in Ireland. Amazingly the businessman made EUR 10million more than Bank of Ireland lost, EUR 569million last year. The wealthiest Irish citizen is Pallonji Mistry - the chief of an Indian construction giant - who made EUR 1.67billion last year and has a fortune of around EUR 8.7billion. Campbell's Soup heir John Dorrance III is ranked the third richest man in the country with a EUR 1.8billion fortune. Businessman Martin Naughton slipped 60 places down the rankings to 796. But the Glen Dimplex founder won't be too upset as he still increased his fortune to EUR 1.6 billion. Investment guru Dermot Desmond was also in the money adding an extra EUR 145million to his bank balance which now stands at EUR 1.45billion. He too fell in the rankings to 869th, down from 831 last year but he is still the fifth-richest man in the country. The wealth of Ireland's richest is just loose change compared to the fortunes amassed by the world's top billionaires. Gates' total net worth increased in 2013 seeing him topple Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim off the top spot. The Microsoft founder went back to the top of the Forbes' richlist for the first time in four years and is sitting on a fortune of more than EUR 55billion. The software magnate has now topped the list in 15 of the past 20 years. The list, compiled by Forbes magazine, confirms there are a record 1,645 billionaires in the world. A fortune of EUR 22.5billion is the figure needed to crack the top 20, up from EUR 16.6billion last year. Across the water landlord Gerald Grosvenor and his family were the richest British subjects with around EUR 9.4billion in the bank. Very few of those on the Forbes' richlist have made their fortunes early in life as just 31 of the 1,645 are under the age of 40. Around two in three of the billionaires created their own wealth, 13% had it passed on to them while 21% added to the fortune they inherited. [email protected] How Irish entrepreneurs struck gold DENIS O'Brien set out on the road to riches when he set up Esat Digifone, which he later sold to BT in a deal worth more than EUR 300million. The 55-year-old then established Digicel, a major telecoms operator in the Caribbean. Mr O'Brien owns more than 40 radio stations in Ireland and Europe, including Newstalk and Today FM. He is also involved in the aircraft and newspaper industries. Dermot Desmond, 63, made his fortune through shrewd investments and was the founder of National City Brokers. He bought London City Airport for EUR 29million in 1995 and sold it for a reputed EUR 910million in 2006. Mr Desmond is the majority shareholder in Celtic and at one stage owned a proportion of Manchester United. Martin Naughton, 73, is one of the country's best-known entrepreneurs having built up Glen Dimplex from a small firm into an industrial giant. His business comprises more than 7,000 staff and 22 manufacturing facilities with annual sales of more than EUR 730million. TOP 20 BILLIONAIRES ON THE FORBES LIST Name Net Worth Source 1 Bill Gates, 58, US $76BN Microsoft 2 Carlos Slim Helu & family, 74, Mexico $72BN telecom 3 Amancio Ortega, 77, Spain $64BN retail 4 Warren Buffett, 83, US $58.2BN Berkshire Hathaway 5 Larry Ellison, 69, US $48BN Oracle =6 Charles Koch, 78, US $40BN diversified =6 David Koch, 73, US $40BN diversified 8 Sheldon Adelson, 80, US $38BN casinos 9 Christy Walton & family, 59, US $36.7BN Wal-Mart 10 Jim Walton, 66, US $34.7BN Wal-Mart Name Net Worth Source 11 Liliane Bettencourt & family, 91, France $34.5BN L'Oreal 12 Stefan Persson, 66, Sweden $34.4BN H&M 13 Alice Walton, 64, US $34.3BN Wal-Mart 14 S. Robson Walton, 70, US $34.2BN Wal-Mart 15 Bernard Arnault & family, 64, France $33.5BN LVMH 16 Michael Bloomberg, 72, US $33BN Bloomberg LP 17 Larry Page, 40, US $32.3BN Google 18 Jeff Bezos, 50, US $32BN Amazon.com 19 Sergey Brin, 40, US $31.8BN Google 20 Li Ka-shing, 85, Hong Kong $31BN diversified (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |