Tycoons lift Olympic gold as sporting chances are taken

Construction multi-millionaire Ray O’Rourke heads the first-ever “Olympic Rich List” of people who are cashing in from the Games.

The 65-year-old, whose family firm Laing O’Rourke has overseen the construction of the games arenas, is estimated to be worth £280 million.

He is followed by Johnny and Patsy Byrne, valued at £115 million, whose Byrne Concrete Structures is a main contractor for the Games.

Cormac and Patrick Byrne own Ardmore, which has supplied 2500 bathroom “pods” for the athletes’ village in Stratford. They are said to be worth £51 million. Jerome O’Hea, head of the family that owns Colt Group, lead ventilation systems supplier, has a fortune of £45 million.

Other senior Olympic figures who appear in the Sunday Times Rich List 2012 published this weekend include Sir Keith Mills, deputy chairman of the Games organising committee Locog, who is worth £130 million.

Match Of The Day presenter Gary Lineker, who is anchoring the BBC’s coverage of the Games, is estimated to be worth £22 million.