Beautiful day for U2 as they top rich list
Bono, The Edge and Co upped their wealth by €29m after their record breaking 360 Tour
By Kevin Keane
Thursday May 05 2011
U2 increased their wealth by almost €29m last year — at a time when most of the country was losing money.
Bono, Larry, Adam and the Edge are now collectively worth more than €500m, making them by far the richest performers in the country.
Not as fortunate, however, was former Riverdance star Michael Flatley, whose amassed wealth has fallen by an estimated €30m because of declining property prices and a downgrading in the value of his company Unicorn Entertainments.
But the Lord of the Dance star, who lives in a country mansion in Co Cork, is still Ireland’s second wealthiest performer with assets of €237m.
U2 made almost all their financial gains from their 360 Degree tour, which was the highest grossing tour of all time.
Apart from losses suffered by Michael Flatley, the ‘Sunday Times 2011 Irish’ rich list of entertainers shows remarkably little movement.
The only entry in to the top 10 is Bob Geldof, with a fortune of €35m from his television production company Ten Alps.
He shares seventh place with Chris De Burgh and Westlife.
Ahead of them are concert promoter Denis Desmond and his wife Caroline (3rd) on €205m, Enya (4th) on €94m and Riverdance creators Moya Doherty and John Colgan (5th) on €80m. Van Morrison is in 6th place with assets of €56m.
- Kevin Keane
Irish Independent
