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 ÂŁ1bn in one year, according to The Sunday Times Rich List 2016.

Ashley, 51, remains the richest man in the Northeast with a fortune of ÂŁ2.43bn but shares at his Sports Direct business have almost halved in value since December, leaving Ashley's stake worth ÂŁ1.25bn. He started it with a ÂŁ10,000 loan from his parents.

Meanwhile, Ellis Short, the owner of Sunderland AFC, has seen his wealth grow by ÂŁ200m in the past 12 months. Through his London-based Kildare Partners private equity operation, 55-year-old Short raised nearly ÂŁ1.4bn to invest in distressed property in 2014.

The Fenwick retail fortune continues to grow with Mark Fenwick and family now standing at ÂŁ700m, up ÂŁ50m 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 ÂŁ30m profit on ÂŁ298m of sales in 2014-15.With ÂŁ576m of net assets, the business is worth ÂŁ600m.

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 ÂŁ130m to ÂŁ195m, which may come in handy should his team achieve promotion to the Premier League at the end of the season. He has a ÂŁ180m 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 ÂŁ200m 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

ÂŁ2.43bn

Down ÂŁ1.07bn

45

Ellis Short

ÂŁ1.2bn

Up ÂŁ200m

90=

Mark Fenwick and family

ÂŁ700m

Up ÂŁ50m

164=

Alastair and Michael Powell

ÂŁ413m

Up ÂŁ1m

276

Jonathan Ruffer

ÂŁ370m

Down ÂŁ30m

301=

The Duke of Northumberland

ÂŁ365m

Up ÂŁ15m

307=

Dame Margaret and Helen Barbour and family

ÂŁ335m

Up ÂŁ15m

326=

8=

Duncan Bannatyne

ÂŁ200m

Up ÂŁ13m

515=

8=

Peter Stephenson and family

ÂŁ200m

New entry

515=

10

Steve Gibson

ÂŁ195m

Up ÂŁ65m

548=

11=

Sting

ÂŁ185m

Up ÂŁ5m

564=

11=

Stuart Monk

ÂŁ185m

Up ÂŁ10m

564=

13=

Michael Cannon

ÂŁ170m

No change

612=

13=

Sir Peter Vardy

ÂŁ170m

Down ÂŁ5m

612=

15=

Raj Sehgal and Sanjeev Mehan and family

ÂŁ160m

Up ÂŁ10m

640=

15=

Graham Wylie

ÂŁ160m

Down ÂŁ25m

640=

17

Duncan Davidson and family

ÂŁ148m

Down ÂŁ1m

712=

18=

Phil Cronin and family

ÂŁ130m

Up ÂŁ5m

766=

18=

Philip Noble and family

ÂŁ130m

No change

766=

20

Aran and Arvan Handa and family

ÂŁ128m

New entry

792=