Mike Ashley tops North East rich list
Mike Ashley retains his title of the North East's richest man.
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=