The new owners of Newcastle United are the richest people in the North, according to the new edition of The Sunday Times Rich List.

Last year, the India-born Reuben brothers, David and Simon, teamed up with Saudi investors and the British financier Amanda Staveley to buy the club from Mike Ashley.

David, 83, and Simon, 81, who came to Britain in the 1950s, own ten per cent of the Magpies, with David’s son Jamie, serving as a director of the Premier League club.

Their wealth is thought to be £24.399bn, up £2.134bn from last year.

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Co-owner and director of chemical giant Ineos, Andy Currie, saw his estimated fortunes rise by £7.058 billion.

When energy prices rocketed and Europe shivered at the start of the Ukraine conflict, the chemical giant, Ineos, grew exponentially.

Mr Currie has been at the top of the business since 1999 and owns almost 20 per cent of the £40 billion company.  

Fellow co-owner and Chief Financial Officer at Ineos, John Reece, who saw his wealth increase by £7.025 billion, owns nearly 20 per cent of the company and a superyacht.  

Meanwhile, the collective wealth of DFS co-founder, Robert Miller, and his daughter Princess Marie-Chantal, who is married to the new head of the Greek Royal Family, took a £617 million drop to £1.583 billion, the biggest fall in the region.

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Overall, the richest 350 in the UK this year are worth £796.459 billion.

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 UK billionaires fall.  

"Two years ago we raised concerns about an unsettling boom in the fortunes of the very wealthy that continued unchecked during the political instability around Brexit and the pandemic.

“This is not a crash - but there are household names who have lost vast sums over the past year.

“The bursting of the tech bubble, the end of rock bottom interests and the jitters creeping through the banking industry have all taken their toll.  

“The super rich don't exist in a vacuum. Many small investors lost money in some of their overblown stock market floats. Many people also work for their businesses.

“Financial losses for billionaires can have implications for us all." 

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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 UK recorded this year, down 6 from 2022, the first fall for 14 years.

The list is published today online here and in the print edition of the newspaper on Sunday, May 21. 

Here are the top five people in the North according to the list:

1. David and Simon Reuben and family 

Property and internet: Reuben Brothers 

£24.399bn 

Up £2.134bn 

2. Andy Currie  

Chemicals: Ineos 

£9.176bn 

Up £7.058bn 

3. John Reece  

Chemicals: Ineos 

£9.132bn 

Up £7.025bn 

4. Malcolm Healey and family 

Kitchens and property: Wren Kitchens 

£1.6bn 

Up £250m 

5. Robert Miller and Princess Marie-Chantal and family 

Duty-free shopping, fashion and finance 

£1.583bn  

Down £617m