The Manchester United co-owner's net wealth is estimated at a staggering £17bn
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Sir Jim Ratcliffe pictured at the Miami Grand Prix earlier this month
(Image: Getty Images)
Sir Jim Ratcliffe's net worth has dropped by £6.5bn in the last 12 months, according to the latest edition of the Sunday Time's Rich List.
But the Manchester United co-owner won't need to go scrabbling for loose change down the back of the settee just yet.
With a net worth estimated at £17bn, the Failsworth-raised chemical magnate is still by far the richest man in the North West, and the seventh wealthiest in the UK.
The 72-year-old, who acquired a 27.7% stake in United in a £1.25bn deal at the start of 2024 after striking a deal with majority owners, the Glazer family, has amassed his fortune through founding petrochemicals giant INEOS back in 1998.
Ratcliffe’s success with INEOS arrived after he acquired the company from the Inspec Group, making a major move in 2006 to buy up BP’s refineries in Europe and Canada, a move that turbo-charged the trajectory of the company.
In November last year, the Manchester Evening News reported how his net worth had dropped by an estimated £4bn, something tied to INEOS performance and also other investments including that of United.
Sir Jim is now a co-owner of Manchester United(Image: PA)
He's also faced criticism after making hundreds of redundancies among some of the lowest paid staff at Old Trafford, while also proposing hundreds of millions of of pounds of public money is put towards a new £2bn stadium.
Billionaires' fortunes are often tied up in stocks and shares. Therefore, as the stock market rises and falls daily, so do their fortunes.
The wealth of high net worth individuals can fluctuate greatly depending on what industry their main assets sit in, and with INEOS operating, mostly, in the industrial sector that can be volatile.
The M.E.N has approached INEOS and Sir Jim for comment.
In the North West, Sir Jim is followed in second place by Cheshire-based The Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor family, owners of property business Grosvenor Group, worth £9.9bn. Their vast global portfolio includes the Liverpool One shopping centre.
Fred Done
It's a been a good year for Salford bookmaking brothers Fred and Peter Done, owners of Warrington-based Betfred. Their combined net worth has risen by more than £500m to almost £3bn.
The rest of the North West top 10 is made up Liverpool-based Home Bargains founder Tom Morris - whose near £7bn fortune has seen him dubbed the 'richest Scouser who ever lived' - while the Issa brothers Mohsin and Zuber, who started their petrol station empire with a garage in Bury before buying Asda, saw their net wealth increase by 20% to £6bn.
Simon, Bobby and Robin Arora, the Hale Barns-based brothers behind the B&M discount chain, saw their net worth drop by £104m, but still have nearly £2.6bn to fall back on.
The Issa Brothers
Meanwhile Bury-born businessman Henry Moser, the 75-year-old founder of Cheadle-based Together Financial Services Ltd, also made the regional top 10 with a personal fortune of £2.15bn.
The Sunday Times has also examined the richest people under 40.
Here in the North West Liverpudlian brothers Tom and Phil Beahon, founders of Manchester-headquartered sportswear brand Castore, top the list with a £350m fortune. The firm has supplied kit for Andy Murray, kit suppliers for Aston Villa and Everton.
Continuing the theme of rich siblings, the Bolton brothers George and Michael Heaton, founders of streetwear brand Represent, are said to have a net worth of £122m, while Droylsden-raised make-up entrepreneur Paige Williams, who began her empire from a beauty salon in Prestwich, also makes the list with a fortune estimated at £100m.
Paige Williams(Image: P.Louise)
The 2025 Rich List has seen the largest fall in the number of billionaires in the guide's 37-year history, from a peak of 177 in 2022 to 156 this year. The 350 individuals and families, which includes Sir Elton John, Lord Lloyd-Webber, Sir Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Euan Blair, Sir Lewis Hamilton and Sir Christopher Nolan, together hold combined wealth of £772.8 billion — 3% down on last year.
Robert Watts, compiler of the Sunday Times Rich List, said: "The Sunday Times Rich List is changing. Our billionaire count is down and the combined wealth of those who feature in our research is falling.
"We are also finding fewer of the world's super rich are coming to live in the UK. This year we were also struck by the strength of criticism for Rachel Reeves's Treasury.
"We expected the abolition of non-dom status would anger affluent people from overseas. But homegrown young tech entrepreneurs and those running centuries-old family firms are also warning of serious consequences to a range of tax changes unveiled in last October's budget.
"Our research continues to find a wide variety of self-made entrepreneurs building fortunes not just from artificial intelligence, video games and new technologies but also mundane, everyday items such as makeup, radiators and jogging bottoms. We know many of our readers find these people and their stories inspiring — especially the many who had tough starts or setbacks to their lives and careers."