Ingenuity beats inheritance in Forbes rich list

FOUR Irishmen are listed as billionaires in the latest annual edition of Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s richest people, which voted Microsoft founder Bill Gates as richest man for the 13th year in a row.

Seán Quinn, the Fermanagh entrepreneur who recently bought the health insurance firm BUPA, is Ireland’s wealthiest individual with an estimated fortune of €3.43 billion.

The self-made businessman has overtaken Ireland’s better-known billionaires such as Tony O’Reilly and Dermot Desmond in recent years due to the dramatic expansion of his Quinn group of businesses.