The richest people in Wales have taken a hit following the credit crunch. But, finds Philip Beresford, our largely self-made millionaires are not giving up yet.
Economic woes are hitting the wallets of Welsh business tycoons like never before. Collectively the fortunes of the 100 millionaires in the Wales Business Insider 2008 rich list have fallen from from £7.8bn last year to £7.4bn.
This unique snapshot of the rich – domestic and Welsh exiles – again precludes the celebrity rich of football and media this year to concentrate solely on business wealth.
In spite of the £400m drop in total wealth, the grim economic outlook does not shake our belief that the entrepreneurs and family business owners listed will eventually lead Wales back to better economic times by way of investment and job creation.
Despite the drop, we still manage a £10m bottom line entry ticket for the Rich 100 list. Our number one remains telecom and golf entrepreneur Sir Terry Matthews, though with a fortune down sharply at £750m. Some of his investments are suffering, requiring more of his money. But his importance to Wales, in terms of inspiration and the Ryder Cup, can’t be overstated.
Despite the turmoil, the resilience of the Top 100 until now is striking. True, there have been some redundancies at one or two of the housebuilders, but there have been no high-profile collapses.
There are 30 in property or construction in our list. A further ten are in retail, another sector that has taken a pounding. And Welsh industry does not do too badly in the Top 100 with 12 represented.
The wealth of what we term the business exiles, based abroad, runs to 12 of our 100. Many are concentrated at the top of the list, including Michael Moritz, regarded as the top venture capitalist in the world, and publishers of different genres including Lord Heseltine and David Sullivan.
Douglas Perkins, the Welsh-born but Channel Islands-based co-founder of the hugely successful Specsavers opticians chain just powers ahead by opening up in new markets such as Australia.
Encouragingly, 83 of the 100 featured in our list made their own wealth rather than inherited it. This is slightly down on last year, but still much higher than any other rich list in the UK since the first appeared in 1989. The list features just one aristocrat of the old school.
An identikit portrait of the Top 100 entrepreneur is still of a white middle-aged male. He will have built his own business, more than likely in property or construction, and is based in South Wales.
To view the Wales Rich 100 list click here to visit our shop.