ONE of the wealthiest businessmen in the south ranks 416th out of 1,000 millionaires in the Sunday Times Rich List.

John McCarthy, who co-founded retirement homes empire McCarthy & Stone 27 years ago, is worth an estimated £112m in Britain's annual wealth league.

Last year he sold his stake in the company, which began from humble beginnings in New Milton in the New Forest, for £74.6m.

One of the McCarthy sons runs Churchill Retirement Living, a £32m property development business headquartered in Ringwood.

Bournemouth-based McCarthy & Stone, which has various developments in and around Southampton, is now run by Keith Lovelock.

He is one of the region's top-paid directors, earning £911,000 a year.

The 50-year-old land and property magnate Earl of Portsmouth, who lives on a 3,000-acre estate near Basingstoke, is worth an estimated £100m. He is ranked 458th.

Another regional entrant is Sir Michael Cobham, 78, the former chairman of aviation and aerospace Cobham, which employs 520 people at Titchfield, near Fareham. He is 740th with £66m.

The Earl of Inchcape, 62, who derives his wealth from land, investments and the P&O shipping line, a well-known employer in Southampton, is 938th, with £50m-plus.

According to the list, the top 1,000 have just under £250 billion between them, a rise of more than 23 per cent on the year before.

Topping the table is steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, at £14.8 billion.