Business Rich List 2019

Saturday 30 March 2019

Rich List 2019

The 250 wealthiest people in Ireland

Amid falling stocks, Brexit and trade wars, 2018 still saw plenty hitting paydirt

The Irish economy motored along nicely in 2018 but that buoyancy didn't feed through into the bank balances of many of the super-rich over the past 12 months. Making big money was difficult for those with any money to invest, with no easy wins for those who are used to striking it lucky in the financial stakes.

Palatial: Michael Flatley's Castlehyde home in Cork

The great great toy show: boats, planes, motors and mansions

Who in the Rich List has the best status symbols in terms of cars, jets, houses and yachts?

Girl power: The businesswomen lighting the way

Men have always dominated the Rich List and despite great strides by women in business and other areas of life, the vast majority of entries continue to be male. This reflects wealth measures internationally. According to Forbes' annual World's Billionaire rankings, of the 2,208 billionaires across the world, only 256 are women.

Niall Horan is the sole entertainment entrant under the age of 40 in the top 200

A portrait of the artists as a rich elite

If wealth in broader society is concentrated in the hands of a lucky few, the entertainment industry contains an even more stark divide between rich and poor. While most actors, singers and authors live a fairly hand-to-mouth existence - witness Booker nominee Donal Ryan admitting he was thinking of returning to the day job in the civil service - the...

Ciara Egan has heard some strange requests from her mega-rich clients.

Party with Oprah, dinner at Donald's or some Xi time

The super-rich can be quite coy about their lifestyles and the extraordinary perks that their wealth can deliver. But one person who knows all about the demands of those with many millions of euro in their bank accounts is Kildare woman Ciara Egan.

Joe Doyle of Donnybrook Fair with Musgrave CEO Chris Martin after Musgrave bought the firm in a deal worth €25m

Payday! 2018's deal highlights

One of the hardest fought deals of the year was the race for Donnybrook Fair, the upmarket food stores which started off life in the well-heeled Dublin 4 neighbourhood. While Lidl and Aldi have taken the Irish grocery market by storm with lower prices, Joe Doyle - a Wicklow man who opened his first shop at the age of 18 - and his family went after the top of the market. After...

The 'Forbes' Top 10 Richest In The World

There was a change at the top of the Forbes Billionaires' list this year as Jeff Bezos moved up from third place.

Packing a punch in elite golden circle

The conventional wisdom in sports is that the big money is in a squeaky clean image which makes the tattooed, swearing, multimillionaire Conor McGregor all the more remarkable. The Crumlin man made almost his entire fortune from a lucrative payday with Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas, which rated as the biggest sporting event of 2017.