16-05-2025
- Business
- Belfast Telegraph
Rory McIlroy climbs Rich List leaderboard as NI's richest young person with £260m fortune
With Masters prize money of $4.2m (£3.5m) swelling the coffers, the 36-year-old now has a fortune of £260m, according to the annual list.
That makes him our richest person under 40 — and 19th on the list of the UK's wealthiest people under 40.
McIlroy's wealth has risen by £35m over the last year, the Sunday Times research said, a bigger jump than the £25m rise reported a year earlier.
Robert Watts, the compiler of The Sunday Times Rich List 2025, said: 'McIlroy earlier this year became the second golfer after Tiger Woods to have earned in excess of $100m (£75m) on the PGA Tour during his career.
"Since launching his career 15 years ago he has chalked up nearly 30 victories from more than 260 events on the tour.
"The bulk of McIlroy's fortune stems from sponsorship deals and other tie-ups with Nike, Omega and TaylorMade. He has also prospered from property in Dubai, New York and Florida.'
The news comes as McIlroy competes at the US PGA at the Quail Hollow Club in North Carolina.
'Dream come true' - Rory McIlroy finally completes grand slam with Masters win
Yet for all the riches sporting prowess can bring, the golfer, from Holywood in Co Down, can't gain entry to the big league of names from business who dominate the Northern Ireland Rich List.
At number one for another year are Lady Ballyedmond (77) and her family, with a wealth of £922m.
She is the widow of Lord Ballyedmond, who founded Newry veterinary pharmaceuticals firm Norbrook and was killed in a helicopter crash in 2014.
Their fortune from the family's continued ownership of Norbrook has gone up by £8m over the last year, the Sunday Times said.
The Naughtons, another family behind a business with roots in Newry, are at number two with their fortune of £825m. Patriarch Martin Naughton (86) founded the Glen Dimplex company in Newry in 1973, beginning with manufacturing oil-filled radiators.
Glen Dimplex underwent a radical restructuring which began in 2024, with the family's fortune declining by £25m. The Belfast Telegraph Top 100 Companies this week revealed that their company, Glen Electric, recorded the highest pre-tax profits in Northern Ireland of the last year at £468.6m.
The Rich List also reveals that the wealth of Belfast-based father and son Robert (80) and William Barnett (49) and their family climbed by £2m over the year to reach £647m, placing them at number three. Their family business, W&R Barnett, has interests ranging from commodity trading to agribusiness and industry.
The success of LCC Group in Cookstown, an energy supplier and owner of Go petrol stations, has given founder Michael Loughran (74) and his family a fortune of £530m — down from £604m the year before.
Eoin McCann (68) and the other family members behind the concrete company FP McCann Group in Magherafelt has the highest increase in wealth of the big hitters in Northern Ireland, according to the list. Their wealth grew by £51m over the year to a total of £462m in 2025.
Derek Keys (59), owner of Euro Auctions in Dromore, Co Tyrone, made it into the list for the first time with riches of £400m. Mr Keys' company carries out plant and machinery auction sales in the UK, Europe, Australia, Abu Dhabi, Canada and the US.
As well as revealing the wealth of the 350 richest people in Britain, the weekend's 76-page special edition of The Sunday Times Magazine also reveals The Sunday Times Giving List in association with the Charities Aid Foundation. It found that the 100 most philanthropic people on the list gave £3.7bn to charity.
But The Sunday Times said familiar names on the list had faced significant financial challenges.
This year's list of 350 individuals and families together hold a combined wealth of £772.8bn — 3% down on last year.
The minimum entry level had flatlined at £350m, which The Sunday Times said was 'another indicator of a subdued year'.
Mr Watts said: 'The Sunday Times Rich List is changing. Our billionaire count is down and the combined wealth of those who feature in our research is falling. We are also finding fewer of the world's super rich are coming to live in the UK.
'This year we were also struck by the strength of criticism for Rachel Reeves's Treasury. We expected the abolition of non-dom status would anger affluent people from overseas. But homegrown young tech entrepreneurs and those running centuries-old family firms are also warning of serious consequences to a range of tax changes unveiled in last October's budget.
'Our research continues to find a wide variety of self-made entrepreneurs building fortunes not just from artificial intelligence, video games and new technologies but also mundane, everyday items such as makeup, radiators and jogging bottoms.
"We know many of our readers find these people and their stories inspiring — especially the many who had tough starts or setbacks to their lives and careers.'
