Mike Ashley remains one the region's richest people, according to The Sunday Times' Rich List. The 58-year-old founder of Sports Direct, which is based in Shirebrook just over the border in Derbyshire, has kept his place as one of the top five wealthiest people in the region.
The businessman's Frasers Group has a large presence in Nottingham's high street, with Sports Direct, Flannels, and House of Fraser. The Sunday Times assessed that Mr Ashley's wealth had grown £845m to a fortune of £3.84bn, placing him third richest in the Midlands.
Derbyshire-born John Bloor, 78, added £1.409bn to his wealth in the past year upon the success of his housebuilding and Triumph motorcycle businesses. He is now worth £3.488bn and is the 4th richest person in the Midlands.
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The Stoke linked co-founders of Bet365 Denise, John and Peter Coates and family, are the richest people in the Midlands with a net worth of £8.795bn, an increase of £158m since last year. Lord Bamford and family, who get their wealth from the success of JCB, saw a huge increase of £1.58bn and came second in the region.
Rounding out the region's wealthiest people, Tony Murray and family's £2.732bn rose by £382m, placing them fifth in the Midlands. here are 171 billionaires in the UK recorded this year, down six from 2022, the first fall for 14 years.
The combined wealth of the UK billionaires is £683.856 billion, up £30.734 billion, or 4.5 per cent, on the total wealth of the billionaires in last year’s Rich List. 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."
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