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Stephen Fitzpatrick is the richest person in Northern Ireland according to the new edition of

Born in Belfast, entrepreneur Stephen Fitzpatrick founded the fast-growing energy giant Ovo. His wealth is estimated at £2.212 billion - up £872 million from last year, although the shares in his flying taxi venture have plummeted.

Lady Ballyedmond and family who own Norbrook Pharmaceuticals company come in at second on the annual list, with their wealth estimated at £1.05bn, which is down £197m from last year.

A new entry on the list in Northern Ireland this year is traders Robert and William Barnett and family who are valued at £525 million. Belfast-based W&R Barnett has storage, grain-dealing and packaging arms. Robert is chairman of the family-owned business.

Overall, the richest 350 in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ this year are worth £796.459 billion.

Rory McIlroy is this year’s richest sportsperson in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ under the age of 35, and the richest young person in the region. The Northern Irish golfer has boosted his £60 million earnings on the fairways with sponsorship deals from big names such as Nike. Last year the 34-year-old founded the tech-focused TMRW Sports with Tiger Woods. It launches the TGL golf league next year.

The 68-page special edition of The Sunday Times Magazine reveals the wealth of the 350 richest people in Britain in its 35th annual edition. There are 171 billionaires in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ recorded this year, down 6 from 2022. The combined wealth of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ billionaires is £683.856 billion, up £30.734 billion, or 4.5 per cent, on the total wealth of the billionaires in last year’s Rich List.

Robert Watts, compiler of the Sunday Times Rich List , said: "This year's Sunday Times Rich List shows a golden period for the super rich is over. For the first time in 14 years we've seen the number of º£½ÇÊÓƵ billionaires fall.