Luck O' the Irish...

What do we know about one of Ireland's wealthiest native-born billionaires, Denis O'Brien...

O'Brien was born in Cork, Ireland. He graduated with an Arts degree from the University College Dublin and received an MBA in Corporate Finance from Boston College in 1982; he was later presented with an Honorary Doctorate by the University College Dublin.

In 2014, Ireland had 610 ultra high net worth (UHNW) individuals with a net worth of US$30 million or more, according to the Wealth-X and UBS World Ultra Wealth Report 2014. These 610 individuals had a combined net worth of US$70 billion — representing a population increase of 5.2% and a wealth increase of 7.7% from 2013.

Telecom mogul Denis O’Brien, with a net worth of US$6.3 billion as of March 2016. O’Brien is the Chairman of mobile phone network provider Digicel, which has operations in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific Islands. O’Brien founded the Digicel Group in 2001, and in February 2007, he took full ownership of the group in a US$1.4 billion bond issue. The company was scheduled to hold its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 2015 but canceled the plans in October, due to turmoil in the global stock market.

O'Brien chaired the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Ireland, reportedly owns a yacht named "Nero", and as far as philanthropy, donates through The Iris O'Brien Foundation, established in 2000.

(Information provided by Wealth-X, Photo courtesty of Digicel)