Since 1989 the UK national Sunday newspaper, The Sunday Times, has published an annual Rich List supplement. The first Rich List here in Ireland appears to have also been from The Sunday Times – in 1997. The now closed Sunday Tribune created a Top 25 Rich List in 1998. Both The Sunday Independent and Independent have produced substantial lists and data on the Top 300 and 250 in recent years. Both unfortunately called a halt in 2020. Perhaps a new list will emerge in 2022 or beyond?
The List of Lists
- Sunday Times Rich List 1997 – 2020
- Sunday Tribune Rich List 1998 – 2004
- Ireland on Sunday Ireland’s Richest 50 People c2004
- Sunday Independent Rich List 2005 – 2020
- Sunday Independent Rugby Riches & Rewards 2019
- Sunday Independent Political Rich List 2018
- Irish Independent Political Rich List 2021
Other Rich Lists
- Sunday Business Post, Dynasties – Profile of the 20 moist successful family businesses 2018
- The UK magazine, Estates Gazette, was first published in 2002 and included Irish property millionaires over the years, it was last published in 2015. 31 Irish business figures featured on the 2010 Estates Gazette Rich List.
- In 1999 the UK magazine Business Age included Irish people for the first time in its list of 500.
- The annual Forbes World’s Billionaires List has included Irish entries since it started in 2001.
Other Lists
There have been other list not focussed on wealth, but on power or influence:
- Sunday Independent, Gay Power List 201,
- Women’s Executive Network – 25 most powerful women – has featured in Sunday Independent in 2014 and 2017 and other years
- Image Magazine, 40 Inspirational Irish Women Under 40 2016
- Sunday Independent, 30 under 30, young Irish entrepreneurs c2013 – (2021)
- Irish Times, 30 Irish Women You Need to Know 2017
- Sunday Business Post, Connected’s 30 under 30 young tech entrepreneurs 2016 – (2021)
- sportforbusiness.com, 30 Under 30 – Young Leaders of Tomorrow 2021
Some Facts and Figures
- The ST 1997 list included 75 names, with only 32 profiled. The last entry that year had a wealth valuation of just IR£6m. In 2020, entry level for the Top 300 was €65m.
- Minimum entry for the SI top 100 in 2007 was €70m – the height of the Celtic Tiger. The figure to make the 2020 Top 250 was €45m, but €190m to make the Top 100.
- Forbes included 17 Irish billionaires in its 2020 list, up from 9 in 2019. Its first list was in 2001 which listed 490 people, including two from Ireland – John Dorance and Tony O’Reilly.
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