The 11 Irish billionaires who are richer than 85% of the rest of us combined

This means that the 11 billionaires from Ireland collectively have more money than 85% of Irish adults combined, or 63% of the 5.46 million estimated in Ireland’s residential population. 

The report, which highlighted global inequality ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Monday, showed that the total wealth of Ireland’s billionaires amounted to €46.3 billion at the end of last year. 

The figures were based on Forbes ’ latest billionaires list, which showed that Elon Musk, Larry Page, and Jeff Bezos have more wealth than the poorest half of the global population, which is 8.3 billion. 

Elon Musk.

Musk, who is the CEO of a number of companies like Starlink, X and Tesla, was named on the list as the richest man in the world. The eccentric mogul was tapped last year to be the first human on track to become a trillionaire.

The report also found that billionaires are now 4,000 times more likely than anyone else to be successful in becoming a politician. 

Included in Forbes’ list were Ireland’s 11 billionaires, and showed that Stripe founders and brothers John and Patrick Collison were the richest in the country with an estimated worth of $8.7 billion. 

 They were followed by John Grayken, the founder of Dallas-based private equity business Lone Star Funds. While Grayken was originally a US citizen, he renounced his citizenship in 1999 for tax purposes and got an Irish passport instead. 

Also included on the list were Firoz and Zahan Mistry, who are relatively new billionaires. Their father was Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry, who was chairman of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, an Indian conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. 

Stripe Founder, John Collison.

The pair’s uncle, Shapoorji Mistry, took fourth place on the list, now controlling the construction conglomerate after his brother’s death. Forbes estimated the Irish citizen’s wealth at around $1.7 billion. 

Also included on the list was the heir to Campbell’s Soup, John Dorrace, worth an estimated $3.2 billion and businessman Denis O’Brien worth $3.1 billion.

Below them were Kingspan founder Eugene Murtagh at $2.6 billion, financier Dermot Desmond with $2.3 billion and the founder of the hedge fund, Egerton Capital, John Armitage worth roughly $1.5 billion. 

Denis O'Brien.

Oxfam’s report also warned that such a large concentration of wealth amongst an elite group of individuals is eroding democracy. 

Oxfam Ireland Chief Executive Jim Clarken said: "Economic inequality is fuelling political capture worldwide. A new oligarchy is emerging as the super-rich shape rules … The choice is clear: oligarchy or democracy. We cannot have both."

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.