The ordinary Irish EuroMillions player who won €250m is richer than these stars

Irish Daily Mirror

6 hours ago

The search is on for last night's winner of the Euromillions jackpot, worth an eye-watering €250 million.
The prize is the largest to be won in Irish lottery history - eclipsing the Naul family syndicate's €175m win in 2019 and Dolores McNamara's €115m jackpot in 2005 as Ireland's first EuroMillions winner.
According to National Lottery guidelines, the winner - who has yet to be identified - has 90 days to collect their prize. In the meantime, here's where their win ranks them among Ireland's richest individuals...
In the ballpark - €50m+
Ireland's newest EuroMillions winner now finds themselves wealthier than many of the country's most notable people - such as actor Colin Farrell, worth an estimated €70m thanks to his extensive body of work over the years.
Belfast legend Van Morrison sits on a €78m fortune, thanks to prolonged chart success, including scoring a top ten album in the UK in four consecutive decades (1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s).
Fellow Ulsterman and former Formula One driver Eddie Irvine, who finished runner-up in the championship in 1999, has invested much of his earnings in property since the 1990s, with a portfolio worth just over €100m - under half of what one lucky ticket holder will walk away with.
The winning ticket is also worth more than Boomtown Rats singer Bob Geldof, who has earned around €130m from his music and activism since his rise to prominence in the late 1970s.
Elsewhere in the realm of music, our victor's wealth outstrips that of music mogul Louis Walsh, whose decades-long career managing boybands Boyzone and Westlife, as well as his TV work on Ireland's Got Talent and The X Factor has netted him a tidy €135m.
Even past Euromillions winners such as Dolores McNamara pale in comparison - adjusted for inflation, McNamara's €115 fortune in 2005 is worth around €175m in 2025, making for a good sized gap compared to last night's winning ticket.
Neck-and-neck - €200m+
The lucky winner has now drawn level with this group - comprised of some of Ireland's best-known exports.
Stars inhabiting this price bracket include former James Bond actor and Louth native Pierce Brosnan, whose career on-screen kicked off in 1982 on the NBC network's Remington Steele. This big break led to a long film career for the Irishman, who has banked an estimated €200m over the course of his career.
Also in this group are stars is ex-MMA fighter Conor McGregor, whose high-profile bouts and business ventures also give him a net worth of around €200m.
Fresh from winning the coveted Masters tournament, Ulsterman Rory McIlroy has banked roughly €250m since becoming a professional golfer in 2007. This puts him on equal footing with last night's big winner.
U2's rhythm section also finds themselves occupying the upper end of this bracket - with drummer Larry Mullen worth about €300m and bassist Adam Clayton netting close to €350m over their over forty-year tenure with one of Ireland's biggest bands.
Also worth €350m is the band's longtime guitarist The Edge - real name David Evans - whose extensive use of pedals and guitar effects was instrumental to the development of the band's sound.
Work to do - €600m+
With careful investment, some sound financial advice and a pinch of luck, our newest millionaire could find themselves rivalling the wealth of this next group in a short space of time.
It's here that we find the one remaining remember of U2 - bespectacled frontman Bono, whose activism and business ventures, as well as his lucrative music career have earned him just over €600m since the 1970s.
Continuing the upward trend, it's here that Ireland's first group of billionaires are to be found - with boss of no-frills airline Ryanair Michael O'Leary just missing out. While his wealth has fluctuated in recent years, it has stabilised at around €950m, but is sure to rise again as holiday season begins.
Just scraping into the list of Ireland's 11 billionaires is hedge fund co-founder John Armitage, who has claimed Irish citizenship since 2018. Since the foundation of the Egerton Capital fund in 1994, he has amassed a net worth of €1.3b, which Armitage has most prominently used to donate to the British Conservative and Labour parties in recent years.
Jumping to number eight on the list is telecom tycoon Denis O'Brien, with a total estimated wealth of €2.4b. In contrast to prior decades, O'Brien has largely stayed clear of headlines recently since selling his shares in media group Independent News & Media to Belgian company Mediahuis in 2019.
Locking out the number two and three slots are Stripe founders and brothers John and Patrick Collison, each with a net worth of €6.2b. Stripe, an online financial business, launched in 2010 with investment from Elon Musk and PayPal founder Peter Thiel. By 2016, the Collisons were named the world's youngest self-made billionaires.
Topping the list with more than €8.6b is Indian businessman Shapoor Mistry, brother of late Tata chairman Cyrus Mistry. Though born in India, Cyrus claimed Irish citizenship through his Irish-born mother, and led the Tata Group - producers of chemicals, cars and electronics - from 2012 until 2016. Upon his death in 2022, his wealth was transferred to his brother, who now ranks as Ireland's richest citizen.
While it could be unlikely that our newest lottery winner could reach similar heights, there's no doubt that their win last night catapults them into new, uncharted territory for the first time.