Do you want to know the richest people in Ireland? Stick around for the 9 Irish billionaires and what you should know about each of them.
Ireland is the second-richest country globally in terms of GDP per capita, just after Luxembourg. People in Ireland earn, on average, about 8 times more than the global average income.
The country’s economy is powered by high-tech industries like pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and software. Additionally, Ireland’s low corporate tax rate attracts numerous multinational companies to invest and do business in the country.
As per Forbes World’s Billionaires List 2023, there are 9 Irish billionaires with a collective net worth of almost around US $43 billion. Let’s check them out in the following list.
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9 Irish Billionaires
1. Shapoor Mistry
Shapoor Mistry is the wealthiest Irish citizen, with an estimated net worth of US $7.6 billion. He is the eldest son of the late Indian-born Irish construction tycoon Pallonji Mistry to Irish-born national, Patsy Perin Dubash.
Shapoor Mistry graduated from Imperial College London with a degree in civil engineering, then joined his father’s business in 1985 and became the chairman in 2012. He controls the engineering and construction giant Shapoorji Pallonji Group, sharing the family fortune with his late younger brother Cyrus Mistry’s sons.
Shapoor Mistry prefers to be away from the limelight, just like the rest of the Mistry family. He was born in 1964 in Mumbai, India, and has a son who runs the family empire along with him and his nephews.
Mistry lives in Mumbai but holds an Irish citizenship. He is known for his low-profile and philanthropic activities, supporting various causes such as education, health, and environment.
2 – 3. Patrick and John Collison
Patrick Collison
Originally from Dromineer, County Tipperary in Ireland, the second and third Irish billionaires in our list are the Collison brothers – Patrick and John, founders of online payment platform called Stripe. They are estimated to have a combined $11.4 billion fortune.
Patrick Collison and John Collison each have a net worth of over $5.5 billion. Only in their 30s, they are also the youngest billionaires in Ireland.
The Collison brothers started Stripe in 2010, when they were both college students at MIT. Stripe has grown to become one of the most valuable private companies in the world.
Patrick and John Collison love learning and reading. They have shelves filled with hundreds of books on various topics, from physics to feminism. They also support scientific research and innovation, like Fast Grants, which they started in 2020 to speed up COVID-19-related science.
4. John Grayken
John Grayken, born in 1956 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, is an Irish billionaire, founder, and chairman of Lone Star Funds – a real estate-focused private equity firm. With a net worth of $6.5 billion, he’s the 2nd richest person in Ireland.
Grayken graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Business School, initially working at Morgan Stanley before founding Lone Star in 1995, raising over $85 billion across 21 funds.
Grayken donated a lot of money to help different things like medicine, real estate, and sick kids. He gave $25 million to Boston Medical Center, $10 million to South Shore Health, and £50 million to Great Ormond Street Hospital. He also helped create the Grayken Program for Real Estate at the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1999, Grayken gave up his US citizenship, opting for Irish citizenship for tax reasons. He currently lives in London.
5. John “Ippy” Dorrance III
John Dorrance III, the 6th wealthiest Irish billionaire, is the heir to the Campbell Soup fortune. Born in the United States in 1943 or 1944, he is the son of John T. “Jack” Dorrance Jr. He lives in Dublin, Ireland.
Inheriting his wealth from his grandfather, John Thompson Dorrance, the inventor of condensed soup and founder of Campbell’s Soup, John Dorrance III boasts a net worth of $2.6 billion.
In the mid-1990s, he offloaded the majority of his 10.5% stake in Campbell Soup for $1.5 billion and relocated to Ireland. It’s said that he obtained Irish citizenship by investing $1.5 million in tree planting. He tends to keep a low profile and is known for being a private individual.
6. Denis O’Brien
O’Brien was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1958, and grew up in Dublin. He went to University College Dublin and Boston College, earning a BA and an MBA.
Starting in a small bank, he then worked for an aircraft leasing company. Later, he founded Communicorp, a media company with radio stations in Europe and the UK. He sold his share in Communicorp to Bauer Media in 2021.
With a net worth of $3.8 billion, Denis O’Brien is the 5th richest Irish billionaire, owing a chunk of his fortune to Digicel, a telecom company he founded in Jamaica in 2001. It operates in the Caribbean, Asia Pacific, and Central America. Besides Digicel, O’Brien’s ventures include aircraft leasing, utilities, petroleum, football, and healthcare.
Dennis O’Brien is known for philanthropy, backing human rights, education, and disaster relief. He received the Award for Outstanding Achievement from the Irish-US Council in 2019.
7. John Armitage
The 7th richest Irish billionaire is John Armitage, the co-founder and chief investment officer of the hedge fund Egerton Capital, where he is responsible for all portfolio management activities for equity strategies.
Armitage was born in the UK in 1959, but in 2018, he became an Irish citizen. He got a degree in modern history from Pembroke College, Cambridge, in 1981. The same year, he started working at Morgan Grenfell and became a director of Morgan Grenfell Asset Management until he left in 1994.
John Armitage has a net worth of $2.3 billion. He is a known art patron, being a major donor to the Tate Modern art gallery in London.
8. Dermot Desmond
Dermot Desmond, the 9th wealthiest Irish billionaire with a net worth of $2.1 billion, is the founder and chairman of the investment firm International Investment and Underwriting (IIU). IIU is a private equity firm with interests in biotechnology, diamonds, healthcare, and sports.
Born in Macroom, County Cork, and raised in Marino, Dublin, Dermot Desmond left school early, began his finance career, and worked for the Investment Bank of Ireland and PricewaterhouseCoopers. In 1981, he founded his stockbroking company, NCB Stockbrokers, which he sold for $39 million in 1994. The following year, he launched IIU.
Desmond is known for his visionary and innovative approach to investing, as well as his philanthropic and social causes. He’s also into supporting arts and culture, helping places like the Abbey Theatre and the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
Desmond lives in Dublin, Ireland, but also owns properties in London, Barbados, and the Alps.
9. Eugene Murtagh
Eugene Murtagh is an Irish billionaire businessman, and the founder and chairman of the building materials manufacturer – Kingspan Group. He was born on June 23, 1942 in Kingscourt, County Cavan, Ireland, where he grew up and married his wife Andrea Carolan.
Murtagh began his business in the early 1960s by creating trailers behind his family’s bar. He later grew it to include insulation products for big projects. In 2021, he stepped down from his roles as chairman and non-executive director at Kingspan.
Eugene Murtagh lives in Kingscourt, County Cavan, Ireland, and has five children. He is ranked as the 8th richest person in Ireland, with a net worth of $2.2 billion.
Hi, I’m Christine – a full-time traveler and career woman. Although I’m from the Philippines, my location independent career took me to over 60 countries for the past 12 years. I also lived in 4 continents – from the Caribbean, South East Asia, Africa and now in Europe. But despite living in several countries, my love for Ireland remains the same. A country that had been a part of my life since I was 14 because of my love for Irish music and bands. Ireland Travel Guides was born because of this passion and hopefully, in some little ways, this website will be able to help you on your next trip to Ireland.