The North East's wealthiest people according to The Sunday Times

David and Simon Reuben and family are the richest people in the North East, according to this year’s edition of The Sunday Times Rich List.

It is being published today online here and in the print edition of the newspaper on Sunday, May 19.

The 76-page special edition of The Sunday Times Magazine reveals the largest fall in the billionaire count in the guide’s 36-year history, from a peak of 177 in 2022 to 165 this year.

This year’s list of 350 individuals and families together hold combin edwealth of £795.361 billion — a sum larger than the annual GDP of Poland.

Sir Elton John, Lord Lloyd-Webber and David and Victoria Beckham all appear in the annual survey.

The minimum entry for the list of 350 this year is £350 million. 

Part owners of Newcastle United, the India-born Reuben brothers made their millions in metals trading and at one point controlled five per cent of the world’s aluminium output.

This year, they have increased their share in the Premier League football club from ten per cent to 14.3 per cent.

Next year the brothers hope to open a hotel in Admiralty Arch on The Mall. 

Steve Gibson (Image: Contributor)Steve Gibson re-enters the Rich List with his £640 million fortune after a successful year as a logistics company owner and controller of Middlesbrough FC.  

Owners of the clothing brand Barbour, Dame Margaret and Helen Barbour, have donated £8.5 million to charitable causes this year, nearly 1.6 per cent of their combined wealth.

This hefty donation lands them 24th on The Sunday Times Giving List 2024.  

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Robert Watts, compiler of the Sunday Times Rich List, said: “This year’s Sunday Times Rich List suggests Britain’s billionaire boom has come to an end.

“Many of our home-grown entrepreneurs have seen their fortunes fall and some of the global super rich who came here are moving away. 

“Thousands of British livelihoods rely on the super-rich to some extent.

“We’ll have to wait and see whether we have now reached peak billionaire, and what that means for our economy. 

These may be harder times to create wealth, but The Sunday Times Rich List continues to unearth entrepreneurs building fortunes in diverse and often surprising ways.

“This year’s new entries include people who have made money from artificial intelligence and virtual worlds as well as plumbing supplies and teaching aides.  

“We know many of our readers find such people — especially those from humbler backgrounds — very inspiring.” 

THE 5 WEALTHIEST PEOPLE IN THE NORTH- EAST 

Name  

Source of Wealth 

2024 Wealth  

Rise/Fall 

1 

David and Simon Reuben and family 

Property and internet: Reuben Brothers 

£24.977bn 

Up £578m 

2  

Steve Gibson 

Logistics: Bulkhaul 

£640m 

Re-entry 

3 

Dame Margaret and Helen Barbour 

Fashion: Barbour 

£537m 

No change 

4  

Mark Fenwick and family 

Department stores and property: Fenwick 

£526m 

Up £26m 

5 

The Duke of Northumberland and family 

Land and art: Alnwick Castle 

£509m 

Up £9m