The owner of Irish Steel is named in a forthcoming survey as having Britain's second-fastest-growing fortune. Tomorrow's Sunday Times will say Mr Lakshmi Mittal (47), the eldest son of an Indian steel magnate, owns a company worth £2 billion sterling.
The company, Ispat International, bought the Irish Steel shares from the State in 1995 for £1. The Government gave Ispat over £15.5 million to complete the deal and wrote off loans totalling £17 million.
Mr Mittal, who has lived in London since 1996, bought a steel plant in the United States last month for £1.4 billion.
The paper includes for the first time a listing of the richest residents of Ireland. Top of the list is Mr John Dorrance, the Campbell Soups heir, whose wealth the Sun- day Times estimates at £1.46 billion. Mr Dorrance took out Irish citizenship some years ago.
He is followed by Dr Tony O'Reilly and his wife, Mrs Chryss Goulandris, who are said to be worth £1.35 billion. The Guinness family and the Earl of Iveagh have assets in shares and property worth £800 million, according to the paper. U2's wealth is put at £451 million.
The paper says Ryanair is worth £415 million to Dr Tony Ryan and his family. The majority shareholder in the electrical appliance maker Glen Dimplex, Mr Martin Naughton, is said to be worth £307 million. The Smurfit family wealth is put at £307 million.
Mr Sean Quinn, who has quarrying interests in Fermanagh and a number of Irish hotels, is said to be worth £246 million. The main shareholders in the Cavan-based building materials company, Kingspan, Mr Eugene and Brendan Murtagh, are worth £234 million, says the survey. Mrs Margaret Heffernan of Dunnes Stores is said to be worth £215 million.
The recent floating of the Northern Ireland pharmaceutical company, Galen Holdings, has made multi-millionaires of shareholders Dr Allen McClay and Dr John King, the Sunday Times says.
The fastest-growing fortune in Britain belongs to Mr David Bromilow, who invested in Adidas in 1993. He is now said to be worth £800 million.