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Isle of Man billionaires feature in Sunday Times Rich List
TWO billionaires with homes in the Island feature in the latest Sunday Times Rich List.
The richest man in the Isle of Man is 66-year-old billionaire John Whittaker — 47th on the list — followed by fellow billionaire and property tycoon Trevor Hemmings (70th).
Also featured are Jim Mellon (700m — 117th), Albert Gubay (650m — 126th), who made his first fortune through the Kwik Save discount supermarket chain, financier Trevor Baines (162m — 493rd), fellow financier Dr Leonard Polonsky (144m — 558th), John Taylor (99m — 841st) and Eddie Davies (98m — 845th), both of whom made their money through thermostat company Strix, and entrepreneur Graham Ferguson Lacey (90m, 879th).
Whittaker, whose 1,500m fortune is unchanged from last year, has a business empire that embraces ports, airports and retailing, and his Peel Land company has a 158m stake in UK Coal.
Peel already owns Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Clydeport, the Scottish ports operation, but Mr Whittaker is looking to invest 5.5 billion in developing Liverpool's Central Docks. A large chunk of his wealth is tied up in Peel Holdings, which he took private in 2004 and in which he owns 68 per cent of the shares.
Mr Hemmings, 72, who has given a 3m revamp to Blackpool Tower, his top attraction, has a fortune of 1,030m.
Jim Mellon — whose wealth is reckoned to be 80m more than in 2007 — owns 45 per cent of Speymill, a property fund management group. He is investing in solar power and the Chinese coal market, but most of his wealth derives from his property interests.
Mr Ferguson Lacey, 59, is the only new face in this year's Isle of Man list.
He chairs the Sefton Group, which owns the Island's largest hotel company, and Parkinson, the Island's oldest construction firm.
He also has several business interests in the UK, including a stake in Millwall FC.
Ramsey resident James Toseland, a double World Superbike champion and current MotoGP rider features at number 65 in the 100 richest young people with a fortune of 8m.
The 20th annual Sunday Times Rich List profiled the 1,000 richest people and families in the UK, plus the wealthiest 250 in Ireland as well as reporting the richest people in the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
The list is based on identifiable wealth (land, property, other assets such as art and racehorses, or significant shares in publicly quoted companies), and excludes bank accounts (to which the newspaper has no access).
This year, it takes an 80m fortune to make it into the top 1,000 in the Rich List, 10m higher than last year's 70m qualifying mark and the fifth successive year that the UK entry level has risen by 10m.
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Weather for Isle of Man
Tuesday 07 February 2012
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Temperature: 1 C to 7 C
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