The Sunday Times Rich List 2026: The 10 richest people in Yorkshire - including Nigel Farage's mysterious billionaire donor
Yorkshire has a new richest person according to The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 - and he’s a controversial character whose wealth dwarfs the others in the top 10.
Christopher Harborne makes his debut in the list after becoming notorious thanks to his political donations, namely linked with Nigel Farage.
The Mosborough-born businessman has a whopping net worth of £18bn, more than the rest of Yorkshire’s top 10 combined.
He is one of three billionaires in Yorkshire named on the list, alongside The Shepherd family who are worth £1.35bn and Lord Kirkham and family, worth £1.14bn.
Elsewhere Wren Kitchens’ Malcolm Healey is sixth in the list with a net worth of £901m, while Jon and Susie Seaton of Twinkl are the biggest risers, going from £486m in 2025 to £681m in 2026.
Here’s the list in full:
1. Christopher Harborne
2026 - £18.177bn
2025 - not in list
Entrepreneur
His £12 million in donations to the Reform Party have propelled the secretive entrepreneur into the headlines. Based in Thailand for more than two decades, his easiest UK asset to track is a £357 million stake in QinetiQ.
The Cambridge-educated Harborne’s most valuable asset is a 12 per cent holding in Tether. This cryptocurrency firm is estimated to be valued at £200 billion.
Now also known as Chakrit Sakunkrit after becoming naturalised in Thailand in 2011, his early life, however, was spent in the village of Mosborough, near Sheffield.
2. The Shepherd family
2026 - £1.35bn
2025 - £1.35bn
Construction
In 2024, the Shepherds sold Portakabin to the French infrastructure business Antin. Although the value of the deal was not made public, media reports suggested the modular building manufacturer fetched at least £1.5 billion.
York-based Portakabin began in the 1960s as an offshoot to the Shepherds’ construction firm. Taking account of tax on last year’s Portakabin sale, a strong run of dividends and other family wealth secures the Shepherds’ billionaire status.
3. Lord Kirkham and family
2026 - £1.14bn
2025 - £1.14bn
Retailer
Adopted by a miner when he was three weeks old, Graham Kirkham set his sights on becoming an RAF pilot. Failing to get the right O Level grades led him into the furniture world.
Before long Kirkham was renting a room above a snooker hall in Carcroft to make his own furniture. Originally called Northern Upholstery, this would be the start of the soft furnishings giant DFS, which he floated on the stock market.
4. The Sir Ken Morrison family
2026 - £931m
2025 - £932m
Heirs
Andrea Shelley, William Morrison and Eleanor Kernighan are the three eldest children of the late “king of the tills” Sir Ken Morrison. The 2021 sale of Morrisons to a US private-equity group put a price of at least £700m on his family’s remaining stake.
(Adobe-Stock).jpeg?crop=3:2,smart&trim=&width=640&quality=65)
Sir Ken’s offspring have companies themselves, including the Murton Grange holiday lets business near York.
5. John Jakes
2026 - £926m
2025 - £869m
Manufacturer
Monaco-based Jakes recently banked another £44.8m from his stairlift manufacturer. The latest windfall takes his dividends from Keighley-based Acorn Stairlifts to almost £300m over the past decade.
Starting out as a repair man, Jakes only went into making his own models when replacement parts became scarce.
6. Malcolm Healey and family
2026 - £901m
2025 - £901m
Kitchen manufacturer
Healey and his late brother Eddie started out in their family’s paint business before setting up Status Discount, a chain of 63 DIY stores which they later sold to MFI.
In 2023 he sold electrical goods retailer Ebuyer, which was bought out of administration in August.
Healey’s Wren Kitchens reported profits having halved and nearly 1,000 jobs cuts last year.
7. Paul Sykes
2026 - £775m
2025 - £775m
Entrepreneur
The son of a Barnsley coalminer, he started out with scrap metal, dismantling old buses and exporting parts to the Far East.
.jpeg?crop=3:2,smart&trim=&width=640&quality=65)
By his 40s he had moved into property, developing offices, warehouses and industrial space including in London’s Docklands. He joined forces with the late Eddie Healey to build Sheffield’s Meadowhall shopping centre.
8. Jon and Susie Seaton
2026 - £681m
2025 - £486m
Publishers
Twinkl now provides teaching aides in 85 languages and 200 countries around the world. The sale of a 40 percent stake to a private-equity firm in 2023 put a £500m valuation on the Sheffield-based business.
.jpeg?crop=3:2,smart&trim=&width=640&quality=65)
The Seatons are now considering launching educational resources for adults who struggled to secure qualifications while at school.
9. Philip Meeson
2026 - £579m
2025 - £626m
Aviator
The former RAF pilot and acrobatics ace pulled off one of the greatest business pivots of all time. In 1983 Meeson bought a small company ferrying fresh flowers and other produce from the Channel Islands to the mainland.
After expanding the carrier’s fleet, he plotted a different course - transforming the group into Jet2, now the UK’s leading package holiday brand.
10. Lawrence Tomlinson
2026 - £519m
2025 - £525m
A man of contrasts, Tomlinson juggles the worlds of care homes and high-octane motorsport. In 2025, his manufacturer Ginetta unveiled the Akula, a £275,000 supercar that can hit 62mph in 2.9 seconds from a standing start.
Tomlinson owes his real money to LNT Group, a developer with around 300 care homes.