These are the richest people in North Wales in 2017
Three North Wales businessmen are among the 10 richest people in Wales – although a massive charity donation saw developer Steve Morgan miss out on billionaire status.
The Sunday Times Rich List for Wales was released this morning – showing the 10 wealthiest individuals across the country.
Cardiff based Sir Michael Moritz and his wife Harriet Heyman have maintained their position on the top with a fortune of £2.629bn, after investing in Google, Apple, PayPal, Yahoo and WhatsApp.
The highest placed North Walian on the list is Simon Nixon, co-founder of Flintshire comparison website Moneysupermarket.com, who maintains his position of third from last year with wealth of £1.176bn.
Nixon sold his shares of the business last year having netted more than £551m since its 2007 stock market debut and his personal value has risen £150m in the past 12 months.
His property assets have been valued at more than £330m. He has homes in Los Angeles, Mallorca and London and he is also the proud owner of a Porsche 918 Spyder, one of only 918 built.
He claims the car has already risen 35% in value within six months.
The combined wealth of the 10 richest people in Wales has risen by £1.217bn since last year’s edition of the Rich List and they are now collectively worth over £10.172bn.
Half are billionaires and just one person – Rhyl raised Redrow boss Steve Morgan – saw a fall in the size of their fortune over the past 12 months.
However, Morgan would have been a new entry to the billionaires’ list had it not been for a massive charity donation.
Morgan was awarded a CBE last November for his charity work, with his personal foundation focused on aiding charities that support families and children in need.
Morgan, who ranks fourth in this year’s Giving List based on the proportion of his wealth given away, made the biggest single charity donation of the past year when he gifted more than 11% of his Redrow housebuilding company shares to his charitable foundation.
The gift was worth £226m and the size of the transfer effectively prevented Morgan from becoming the sixth billionaire in Wales. He is worth £831m after taking account of his charitable gift and was sixth on the list.
Coming in joint ninth on the list is Denbigh entrepreneur Lawrence Jones who founded successful Manchester data hosting firm UKFast – which helped earn him a fortune of more than £300m.
He owns Castell Cidwm in the foothills of Snowdon as part of his many investments.
Robert Watts, the compiler of The Sunday Times Rich List 2017, said: “The average wealth of our Welsh top 10 has now smashed through the £1bn barrier – a reflection of what a strong year many of the UK’s entrepreneurs and business leaders have had.
“Wales can take pride in producing entrepreneurs who succeed in many different walks of life, with a striking number of tech tycoons featuring in our Welsh list alongside those insurance, engineering, construction and older industries.
“That diversity of wealth creation gives reason for optimism about the future of the dragon economy.”
At 160 pages this year’s Sunday Times Rich List – the 29th annual edition to be produced – is the biggest ever. The definitive guide to wealth charts the fortunes of the 1,000 richest individuals and families in the British Isles.
The full list is published on Sunday, May 7.
The Wales Sunday Times Rich List 2017
Name /2017 Wealth/ Wealth increase or decrease
1: Sir Michael Moritz and Harriet Heyman, £2.629bn, Up £679m
2: Douglas Perkins and family, £1.6bn, Up £50m
3: Simon Nixon, £1.176bn, Up £150m
4: Sir Terry Matthews, £1.17bn, Up £158m
5: David Sullivan, £1.1bn, Up £100m
6 Steve Morgan, £831m, Down £49m
7 Henry Engelhardt and family, £720m, Up £20m
8 John Deer, £346m, Up £84m
9: Lord Heseltine and family, £300m, No change
9: Lawrence Jones and family £300m, Up £25m
