@masterraalkivictorieux Master Ra’al Ki Victorieux
Discover the rise of extreme wealth in Ireland! 💰📈 Read about the billionaires’ fortunes! 📖✨ #Wealth #Billionaires #Ireland #Oxfam #Forbes https://wp.me/p3JLEZ-9w0
Collective Wealth Rise
“The capture of our global economy by a privileged few has reached heights once considered unimaginable. The failure to stop billionaires is now spawning soon-to-be trillionaires. Not only has the rate of billionaire wealth accumulation accelerated —by three times— but so too has their power.”
— Jim Clarken, Oxfam Ireland CEO
The 11 Irish billionaires saw an increase in their collective wealth experienced a substantial surge by the end of 2024. Oxfam stated that the total wealth of Irish billionaires reached €50.2 billion, marking a remarkable €13 billion increase from the previous year.
To put this growth into perspective, Oxfam calculated that these billionaires witnessed their wealth increase by an astonishing €35.6 million every single day in 2024. A significant portion of this growth, approximately 66 percent, was attributed to what they described as “cronyism, monopolistic sources or inheritance.” This particular observation raises interesting questions about the mechanisms through which extreme wealth is accumulated and sustained.
Forbes List
Forbes’s billionaire list, provide a public record of the Republic of Ireland’s wealthiest.
1. Shapoor Mistry
“Our forefathers instilled in us the ethos of being ethical and charitable in business and in our personal lives, and perhaps the rigor in following these Zarthoshti morals and ethics have resulted in the undeniable success of our community in India and globally.” Shapoor Pallonji Mistry, in the preface to Iranshah: A Legacy Restored (Shapoorji Pallonji & Co, 2023)
Topping this list is Shapoor Mistry, an Indian-born engineering tycoon whose estimated net worth stands at $9.9 billion. Mr. Mistry’s story is one of inherited legacy and global enterprise. He controls the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, a Indian conglomerate: Construction and engineering, infrastructure, energy, water treatment, real estate, financial services, textiles, and electronic publishing. He inherited it from his father, Pallonji Mistry, in 2012, succeeding his brother Cyrus Mistry, who left to lead the Tata Group. His Irish citizenship is a direct result of his father’s marriage to the Irish-born Pat “Patsy” Perin Dubash.
In October 2024, Mistry and his family were ranked 13th on Forbes list of India’s 100 richest tycoons, with a net worth of $20.4 billion.
2 & 3: John and Patrick Collison
“As you become an adult, you realize that things around you weren’t just always there; people made them happen. But only recently have I started to internalize how much tenacity everything requires. That hotel, that park, that railway. The world is a museum of passion projects.”
John Collison
Following Mr. Mistry on the Forbes list are brothers John and Patrick Collison, the founders of Stripe, a global technology company for online payments. Each is estimated to be worth $7.2 billion, highlighting the significant wealth generated through innovation and technological disruption.
John Collison (born 6 Augusto 1990) is a pilot and a pianist. Patrick Collison (born 9 September 1988) is an Irish entrepreneur. He won the 41st Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in 2005 at the age of sixteen. They were born to microbiologist Lily and electronic engineer Denis Collison.
The brothers founded “Shuppa” (a play on the Irish word siopa, meaning ‘shop’) in 2007, in Limerick, Ireland. Enterprise Ireland did not allocate funding to the company, prompting a move to California after Silicon Valley’s Y Combinator showed interest, where they merged with two Oxford graduates, Harjeet and Kulveer Taggar, and the company became Auctomatic. Auctomatic was a software company that built tools for the eBay platform. It was acquired for $5 million in March 2008, and the brothers became millionaires.
In 2010, the brothers co-founded Stripe, which received $2 million backing from Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, and Sequoia Capital. In November 2016, the Collison brothers became the world’s youngest self-made billionaires, worth at least $1.1 billion, after an investment in Stripe from CapitalG and General Catalyst valued the company at $9.2 billion. In the same year, 2016, the Collison were ranked by Forbes in the list America’s Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40.
In 2018, Stripe, under the direction of the Collison brothers, contributed $1 million to California YIMBY, a pro-housing development lobbying organisation. The Collison brothers are citizens of Ireland.
In 2021 and 2022, Collison bought the Abbeyleix Estate and the derelict Millbrook House, neighbouring properties in County Laois, Ireland. They have stated they will spend several millions of euros over some years restoring Millbrook House to make a family home.
In 2020, Patrick Collison founded Fast Grants to accelerate COVID-19-related science with economist Tyler Cowen. In 2021, he co-founded Arc Institute, a nonprofit research organization, with his wife, bioscientists Silvana Konermann and Patrick Hsu.
4. John Grayken
The fourth position is held by John Grayken (born June 1956), the founder and chairman of Dallas-based private equity business Lone Star Funds, who is also an active investor in Ireland, with an estimated net wealth of $6.9 billion.
He received a BA degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1982. Grayken first worked at Morgan Stanley, before joining the RMB Realty Group, the real estate investment firm of Texas billionaire Robert Bass.
Grayken founded Lone Star, the successor to the Brazos Fund, in 1995. In 1999, Grayken became an Irish citizen, “for tax purposes”, renouncing his American citizenship.
In March 2017, Eilene and John Grayken gave a $25 million gift to the Boston Medical Center (BMC) to create the BMC Grayken Center for Addiction Medicine. The gift is the largest donation in BMC’s history.
In April 2017, John P. Grayken gave a leadership gift to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania to fund the Grayken Program in International Real Estate at the Wharton School.
In February 2019, Grayken and his wife made a $10 million gift to create the Grayken Center for Treatment at South Shore Health, a non-profit, charitable health system in southeastern Massachusetts offering outpatient treatment for substance use disorders. The Center also serves pregnant and postpartum women facing behavioral health disorders.
Grayken and his wife made a 2022 donation of £50 million to the Great Ormond Street Hospital, earmarking the funds for researching treatment of childhood illnesses.
In 2022, he was accused by the police in Delhi of criminal breach of trust, cheating, and criminal conspiracy. It is alleged that he personally became the beneficial owner of RattanIndia Finance, when he had told other shareholders that Lone Star Funds would do so. The police further claimed that the Reserve Bank of India had approved the ownership of RattanIndia Finance by Lone Star Funds, but had not approved Grayden’s direct ownership as required under Indian law.
5 & 6: Firoz and Zahan Mistry
60% of global billionaire wealth is inherited, or gained via connections or monopolistic sources.
The Mistry family’s presence on the list extends further, with Mr. Mistry’s nephews, Firoz and Zahan Mistry, holding fortunes of $4.9 billion each, primarily through their shareholding in Mumbai-based Tata Motors.
The remainder of the list, according to Forbes, includes a diverse range of prominent figures: Kingspan founder Eugene Murtagh ($2.8 billion), telecoms magnate Denis O’Brien ($2.8 billion), heir to the Campbell’s Soup empire John Dorrance ($2.6 billion), financier Dermot Desmond ($2.2 billion), and the founder of hedge fund firm Egerton Capital, John Armitage ($1.5 billion). This compilation of names represents a cross-section of industries, from manufacturing and telecommunications to finance and technology, demonstrating that wealth accumulation can stem from a variety of sectors and pathways.
Takers Not Makers
17% of billionaire wealth is from monopoly and 25% is inherited
Beyond the individual figures and national snapshots, Oxfam’s analysis extends to a global perspective on wealth. In their comprehensive “Takers Not Makers” report, the charity estimated that global billionaire wealth surged by an astounding $2 trillion in 2024, a rate three times faster than the preceding year. A noteworthy finding from this global analysis was that approximately 36 percent of this wealth was inherited, echoing the pattern observed at the national level.
Adequate opportunities and resources for all?
1% Richest of Global North extracted €29m an hour from the Global South through the financial system in 2023.
Jim Clarken, head of Oxfam Ireland, articulated the charity’s concerns clearly, stating, “We are witnessing the rise of a modern oligarchy, where wealth is used to build and consolidate political power and vice versa. Meanwhile, global poverty remains at 1990 levels.” This statement underscores a central theme of Oxfam’s message: the perceived disconnect between the burgeoning fortunes of the ultra-rich and the persistent challenges faced by a significant portion of the global population.
However, Oxfam’s reports consistently raise critical questions about the broader implications of wealth disparities. They invite us to consider whether current economic systems adequately distribute opportunities and resources, and whether the mechanisms of wealth accumulation are always equitable or beneficial to society as a whole. The charity’s emphasis on “cronyism, monopolistic sources or inheritance” as significant drivers of wealth growth encourages a deeper examination of market dynamics, regulatory frameworks, and the role of inherited privilege in shaping economic outcomes.
The debate around wealth inequality is multifaceted, encompassing economic theory, social justice, and ethical considerations. Some argue that wealth concentration is a natural outcome of free markets and that efforts to redistribute wealth can stifle innovation and economic growth. Others contend that excessive wealth disparities can lead to social instability, undermine democratic processes, and perpetuate cycles of poverty.
Ultimately, reports like Oxfam’s serve as valuable prompts for reflection and discussion. They provide data and perspectives that challenge conventional wisdom and encourage a more critical examination of global economic structures. While the figures associated with billionaire wealth may seem abstract, their implications are far-reaching, influencing everything from access to essential services and opportunities to the very fabric of democratic societies. Understanding these dynamics is crucial as we collectively strive to build a more equitable and sustainable future for all.
References:
- Takers not makers report (2025) Oxfam Ireland.
- Burke-Kennedy, Eoin. (2025, January 20). Ireland’s 11 billionaires saw their wealth grow by a third to €50bn in 2024. The Irish times. Economy.
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