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 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=