The richest people in the region have been revealed, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List.
The list reveals the wealth of the 350 richest people in the UK and this year marks the 35th year the annual report has been published. The Sunday Times claims that the number of billionaires in Britain this year has fallen by six to compared to the total in 2022, resulting in the first fall for 14 years.
It brings the number of billionaires in the UK recorded this year to 171. Their combined wealth is a staggering £683.856 billion - up £30.734 billion (4.5%) on the total wealth of the billionaires in last year's Rich List.
Read more: North East shipyard UK Docks to create 100 jobs after winning £250m Navy order
And topping the list in the North and North East is David and Simon Reuben with a wealth totalling £24.399bn this year, up by £2.134bn.
Last year, the India-born Reuben brothers teamed up with Saudi investors and the British financier Amanda Staveley to buy Newcastle United from Mike Ashley. The Reubens own 10% of the Magpies, with David's son Jamie, serving as a director of the Premier League club. David, 83, and Simon, 81, came to Britain in the 1950s.
Co-owner and director of chemical giant Ineos, Andy Currie, saw his estimated fortunes rise by £7.058 billion. When energy prices rocketed at the start of the Ukraine conflict, the chemical giant, Ineos, grew exponentially. Andy has been at the top of the business since 1999 and owns almost 20% of the £40 billion company, The Sunday Times reports.
Fellow co-owner and Chief Financial Officer at Ineos, John Reece, is the second richest individual in the region, with his wealth increasing by £7.025 billion. John is one of Sir Jim Ratcliffe's key lieutenants and owns nearly 20% of Ineos - and a superyacht.
The collective wealth of DFS co-founder, Robert Miller, and his daughter Princess Marie-Chantal, who is married to the new head of the Greek Royal Family, took a £617 million drop to £1.583 billion - the biggest fall in the region.
Overall, the richest 350 in the UK this year are worth £796.459 billion. The minimum wealth needed to be counted in the Sunday Times Rich List top 350 is £350 million.
Robert Watts, compiler of the Sunday Times Rich List, said: "This year's Sunday Times Rich List shows a golden period for the super rich is over. For the first time in 14 years we've seen the number of UK billionaires fall.
"Two years ago we raised concerns about an unsettling boom in the fortunes of the very wealthy that continued unchecked during the political instability around Brexit and the pandemic. This is not a crash - but there are household names who have lost vast sums over the past year. The bursting of the tech bubble, the end of rock bottom interests and the jitters creeping through the banking industry have all taken their toll.
"The super rich don't exist in a vacuum. Many small investors lost money in some of their overblown stock market floats. Many people also work for their businesses. Financial losses for billionaires can have implications for us all."
The top five wealthiest people in the North East:
- David and Simon Reuben and family, Reuben Brothers - £24.399bn
- Andy Currie, Ineos - £9.176bn
- John Reece, Ineos - £9.132bn
- Malcolm Healey and family, Wren Kitchens - £1.6bn
- Robert Miller and Princess Marie-Chantal and family, Duty-free shopping, fashion and finance - £1.583bn
Read next:
- Cramlington firm fined £200,000 after worker suffers injury by being pulled into machine
- Probe launched after 'abandoned caravan' destroyed by fire in the car park of Prudhoe Legion Club
- Stannington housing development 'looking better' after councillors slammed Bellway
- "I always knew she would kill her": Odessa Carey's brother says family begged for help before his mentally ill sister killed and beheaded their mum
- Some PCSOs saved from Northumbria Police budget cut axe as bosses scale back job loss plans
