Mike Ashley tops North East rich list

Mike Ashley retains his title of the North East's richest man.

Published 21st Apr 2016

Mike Ashley, owner of Sports Direct and Newcastle United football club, has seen his fortune fall by more than £1bn in one year, according to The Sunday Times Rich List 2016.

Ashley, 51, remains the richest man in the Northeast with a fortune of £2.43bn but shares at his Sports Direct business have almost halved in value since December, leaving Ashley's stake worth £1.25bn. He started it with a £10,000 loan from his parents.

Meanwhile, Ellis Short, the owner of Sunderland AFC, has seen his wealth grow by £200m in the past 12 months. Through his London-based Kildare Partners private equity operation, 55-year-old Short raised nearly £1.4bn to invest in distressed property in 2014.

The Fenwick retail fortune continues to grow with Mark Fenwick and family now standing at £700m, up £50m on last year. The company opened its first department store in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1882 with its flagship store in London's Bond Street following nine years later.

Fenwick, 67, is a former manager of Roxy Music but now chairs the retail business which made a £30m profit on £298m of sales in 2014-15.With £576m of net assets, the business is worth £600m.

Outside of the top three in the North East, Steve Gibson has seen the biggest gain in wealth in the past year. The Middlesbrough FC chairman's fortune has risen by 50% from £130m to £195m, which may come in handy should his team achieve promotion to the Premier League at the end of the season. He has a £180m stake in the parent company behind the Teesside-based Bulkhaul tanker operation.

Peter Stephenson is the highest new entry in the Northeast Rich List. Like Gibson, he is a Teesside success story. He founded and owns Able UK, the Billingham-based business that began life as a complex demolition concern.

Stephenson, 68, set the business up from home in 1966. Today the operation is worth £200m and Stephenson and his family own all of it. It has diversified into site reclamation and associated property development, as well as becoming market leader in decommissioning and recycling marine structures covering everything from oil and gas rigs to ships.

View the full North East rich list here:

Regional rank 2016

Name

2016 wealth

Wealth increase/ decrease

National rank

Mike Ashley

£2.43bn

Down £1.07bn

45

Ellis Short

£1.2bn

Up £200m

90=

Mark Fenwick and family

£700m

Up £50m

164=

Alastair and Michael Powell

£413m

Up £1m

276

Jonathan Ruffer

£370m

Down £30m

301=

The Duke of Northumberland

£365m

Up £15m

307=

Dame Margaret and Helen Barbour and family

£335m

Up £15m

326=

8=

Duncan Bannatyne

£200m

Up £13m

515=

8=

Peter Stephenson and family

£200m

New entry

515=

10

Steve Gibson

£195m

Up £65m

548=

11=

Sting

£185m

Up £5m

564=

11=

Stuart Monk

£185m

Up £10m

564=

13=

Michael Cannon

£170m

No change

612=

13=

Sir Peter Vardy

£170m

Down £5m

612=

15=

Raj Sehgal and Sanjeev Mehan and family

£160m

Up £10m

640=

15=

Graham Wylie

£160m

Down £25m

640=

17

Duncan Davidson and family

£148m

Down £1m

712=

18=

Phil Cronin and family

£130m

Up £5m

766=

18=

Philip Noble and family

£130m

No change

766=

20

Aran and Arvan Handa and family

£128m

New entry

792=