What is J.P. McManus's Net Worth?
J.P. McManus is an Irish businessman and racehorse owner who has a net worth of $1 billion. J.P. McManus is best known for owning several winning racehorses, which have come in first at competitions such as The Festival, The Gold Cup, and The Cheltenham Festival. McManus has also invested in several companies and properties and is known for his involvement with Manchester United and hosting the J.P. McManus Pro-Am Golf Tournament. Throughout his career, McManus has attracted significant controversy and criticism due to being a tax exile in Switzerland and Ireland.
Early Life
John Patrick McManus, known professionally as J.P. McManus, was born in Limerick, Ireland, on March 10th, 1951. He is the oldest of five male siblings which include Kevin, Owen, Gerry, and Michael, the latter two being twins. While a young man living in Ballygar, Ireland, with his family, McManus attended the Christian Brothers School on Sexton Street. The family later moved to Ballysheedy. After graduation, he began working at his father's firm, which provided contractors with machinery and resources. At 21, he earned a bookmaker's license and started pitching at the Limerick Greyhound track.
Business Pursuits
J.P. McManus established a family office called Leicosa SA in Geneva in 1994. The business is known for trading in foreign exchange currency markets. He's also the director of Liberties Strategic Services, a private family office in Geneva and Hamilton, Bermuda. His brother, Gerry, is currently serving as the financial director.
McManus typically invests alongside fellow businessmen John Magnier and Dermot Desmond. The trio owns Barchester Healthcare and has also invested in Ladbrokes together.
McManus is notable for his investments in resorts and hotels, including his purchase of Sandy Lane in Barbados, which he demolished and then completely rebuilt for $450 million. In 2014, he purchased Adare Manor in Limerick, Ireland. Adare Manor is set to host the 2027 Ryder Cup, a popular golf tournament.
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Sports Pursuits
J.P. McManus is known for owning racehorses; his trademark green and yellow silks are recognizable worldwide. His first horse, Cill Dara, was named after the Irish county. He owned the horse Mister Donovan, which won the Cheltenham Festival in 1982.
As of 2025, McManus had 74 wins at the Cheltenham Festival, making him the most decorated competitor. Some of his notable winning horses include Istabraq, who won The Festival four consecutive times; Barracouda, who won the Stayers Hurdle twice; Buveur D'Air, who was McManus's 50th Festival winner; and Synchronised, McManus's first and only Gold Cup winner. Synchronized passed away in 2012 after being euthanized due to a leg fracture. In interviews, McManus has repeatedly stated that Synchronised was his favorite horse despite not being the best competitor.
McManus owns several horse training and stud facilities, the most popular of which is Jackdaws Castle, the burial place of Synchronized. His daughter, Sue Anne, runs two of his stud facilities, Martinstown Stud and Islanmore Stud.
McManus has invested large amounts of money into the football club Manchester United, where he bought 9.8 million shares for around £20 million in July of 2000. He and his investing partner John Magnier later sold their shares due to a dispute with manager Sir Alex Ferguson about the ownership of the racehorse Rock of Gibraltar.
In 1990, McManus founded the J.P. McManus Pro-Am Golf Tournament, which debuted at the Limerick Golf Club and raised almost €1.5 million for charity. In 2005, the tournament relocated to Adare Manor, where it raised €31 million for charity, and in 2010, it raised a record €43.7 million. Popular golf professionals, including Tiger Woods and Davis Love III, have attended the tournament.
In 2023, after McManus had sponsored and invested in the Gaelic Athletic Association for almost 20 years, the Limerick County Board made him honorary lifetime president.
Controversy & Tax Status
J.P. McManus has been a tax exile in Switzerland since the 1990s. He has repeatedly spoken out against this characterization, stating that he was simply an immigrant who set up a business abroad.
McManus's tax exile status was heavily discussed by the media in 2012 when he won $17.4 million gambling in the United States. As a result, the Internal Revenue Service retained $5.2 million of it as income tax. In 2016, an Irish newspaper reported that McManus was looking to get the taxation refunded because of the United States' double taxation treaty with Ireland, which he assumed he was eligible for due to being a citizen. However, the IRS claimed that due to McManus's tax exile status in Ireland and Switzerland, he was not legally an Irish citizen and wasn't eligible for the double taxation treaty to have any effect on him.
Health & Tragedy
J.P. McManus's daughter-in-law, Emma McManus, died suddenly in Barbados on December 30, 2020 at the age of 40. A coroner later ruled that the death was "unnatural" and "cocaine-associated." As of February 2025, McManus's son John, Emma's widower, was attempting to have the coroner's verdict legally quashed.
A January 29, 2021 article in the newspaper Daily Mail reported that John had told the coroner he and his wife had been partying at their lavish home on the Caribbean Island before he found her propped up against pillows and appearing lifeless in their bed at 8:00 the next morning. The couple had enjoyed Christmas festivities at a nearby resort co-owned by McManus before going on to Sandy Lane's Monkey Bar. Allegedly, Emily left the bar to return home around 11:30 that evening while John remained there drinking. Its alleged that he was transported home around 4:00 the next morning and put on the couch to sleep.
J.P. McManus was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009. He is alleged to have fully recovered after treatment and has said that "a lot of good" came from the experience.
Personal Life & Assets
J.P. McManus and his wife, Noreen, have three children and four grandchildren together. His close friends include many world-famous individuals, such as famed golfer Tiger Woods, his former retained jockey A.P. McCoy, and Westlife lead singer Shane Filan. McManus is said to have loaned Filan €780,000 after his property development company went bankrupt in 2012.
McManus built a €20 million residence in Kilmallock in 2006. The property includes a pool, an underground car park, an artificial lake, nine bedrooms, and an at-home cinema featuring about 200 seats. He also has another residence, a €150 million mansion in Barbados that was completed in 2013. In addition, he owns a residence in Chelsea, London, worth €100 million, and a suite at the Dorchester Hotel on Park Lane.
Other assets of McManus include his Gulfstream G650 private jet, which was involved in an emergency landing in Shannon in July of 2019 while McManus was on board with four other individuals. While en route to the United Kingdom, the jet suffered an engine failure. His other aircraft is an Agusta Westland AW139 helicopter, painted green and yellow to match his racing silks.
McManus is a massive golfing fan and he has won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship twice in Scotland alongside professional golfer Padraig Harrington. He has also competed in the BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am at Wentworth, but his handicap was declared at 18 in 2023.
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