the Irish border when, in 1973, he borrowed £100 and started extracting gravel from his family farm, washing it and selling it to local builders. The company was called Seán Quinn Quarries Ltd. From this came Quinn Cement, the basis of his wealth. In recent years Quinn diversified with his Quinn Group playing a leading role in Ireland's hospitality industry, setting up Quinn Hotels. The centrepiece hotel was the Slieve Russell Hotel in Ballyconnell, County Cavan. He maintains interests in Ireland's glass, radiator and plastics industries with Quinn Glass, based in Fermanagh, and Quinn Lite Pac, based in County Longford. As of 2009, the Quinn Group employed more than 5,500 people throughout Ireland. Quinn Financial Services, founded in 1996, includes the Quinn Direct insurance business. With its headquarters in Cavan, it made €123 million profit in the first six months of 2006 (up 38% on the previous year), on sales of €386 million between January and June 2006. In January 2007 the Quinn Group purchased Ireland's second biggest health insurance provider, Bupa Ireland, for €150 million in a deal that saved BUPA from leaving Ireland's health insurance industry. In the same month Quinn increased his share holding in the Anglo Irish Bank to approximately 5%, for an equivalent value of €570 million – financed through the group's equity and through a deal with the Swiss-based giant Credit Suisse. Throughout 2007 peaking in July 2008 Quinn increased his family's stake to 15% in Anglo Irish Bank. The bank along with all financial institutions in Ireland saw its share price collapse in the latter half of 2008, and on 15 January 2009 the Irish government announced it had taken control of the bank. Shares were trading for as little as 20c (from a high of €10.15c) before the takeover. Recession of 2008 Forbes Rich List had estimated that the Quinn family's net worth took a major hit in 2008-09, with Denis O'Brien replacing Quinn as Ireland's wealthiest person. Anglo-Irish Bank investment A large part of the subsequent loss can be linked to the well-publicised near collapse of the Anglo Irish Bank, which wiped out at least €2.8 billion of the family's wealth. Between October 2005 and July 2007 Quinn built up a 28% stake in the bank, mainly through contracts for difference, a financial instrument used to gamble on the bank share price. Quinn admitted at the time in an RTÉ Prime