by Duncan Foulkes
The island’s richest men have wealth amounting to a cool £4.2 billion, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2014.
But by far the most well off is billionaire John Whittaker and family who account for more than half the wealth with £2.3 billion.
Property tycoon Mr Whittaker is ranked 42nd overall in the List which reveals that the 1,000 richest men and women in the British Isles have surged to new heights with their wealth rising by 15.4 per cent with a combined fortune of £519 bn.
Mr Whittaker’s Peel group owns shopping centres, ports, land, Pinewood Shepperton Studios and Media City in Salford. The Liverpool football fan plans a container terminal in Liverpool and a £1 billion development in Manchester.
Bury-born Mr Whittaker owns 75 per cent of the £3billion Peel Holdings, which donated £12.5m towards the cost of the Imperial War Museum North in Trafford and gave £18m on land for the Riverside Museum in Glasgow.
Jim Mellon is in equal 117th place with wealth estimated at £850m. The List says investments in biotechology companies have proved a ‘fertile field for Mellon, 57, who believes that in 10 years there will be a cure for cancer.’
It says Mr Mellon, who has made his money in property and finance, has two homes in the island and others around Europe. His wealth has risen by £50m, claims the List.
North of the island resident Trevor Hemmings has seen his wealth increase by £15m to a total of £625m, putting him in 164th spot. The list says Mr Hemmings, 78, who has twice won the Grand National as an owner, was a brick layer’s apprentice in Leyland before building his own housebuilding firm.
Mark Shuttleworth has a fortune of £160m and is in joint 571st place. The 40-year-old from South Africa, who lives in the island, has made his money through the internet, says the Rich List.
John Morphet, who lives at Bishopscourt, is in the list with a wealth of £135m, the same as last year, made through caravan parks and leisure. The 59-year-old, a Lancastrian, owns Pure Leisure. He also owns the Royal Westmoreland complex in Barbados where many stars have holidayed including Wayne Rooney and his family.
New York based Leonard Polonsky, 87, who founded Lord Street firm Hansard Global, is in 863rd spot with £100m.
George Moore and family is listed in 824th spot with a wealth of £95m. According to the Rich List, the island resident made his fortune from furniture. Mr Moore, 85, sold his Wetherby-based Moores Furniture operation for £80m. His foundation funds several charities.