Sunday Times Rich List: Who came out on top among a record 171 billionaires?
There’s now a record 171 billionaires living in the UK, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, and they’ve seen their total wealth swell despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
Wealth among billionaires increased by 21.7 per cent over the year, rising by £106.5bn to £597.2bn.
Ukranian-born Sir Leonard Blavatnik swiped the top spot from last year’s number one Sir James Dyson as the richest person in the country according to the Sunday Times Rich List.
Blavatnik’s fortune surged by £7.2bn to around £23bn during the pandemic-hit year, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.
The London City dweller is known for his sports streaming service Dazn, which recently signed a broadcast deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, which represents Anthony Joshua.
His business interests include Warner Music, which he sold a £1.37bn stake in when it floated in the US last year.
Dyson, meanwhile, slipped back to fourth in the ranking after his wealth only increased by £100m to £16.3bn.
Property investors David and Simon Reuben, who reached the second spot after their wealth rose £5.46bn to £21.46bn.
José Neves, the founder of upmarket fashion site Farfetch, has seen shares rocket 200 per cent in the London-based business in the past 12 months, as online shopping has soared in popularity.
The post fashion site, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange was up 2.33 per cent this morning, selling for 39.94p per share.
Meanwhile, Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster, famously known for owning a large portion of the capital’s prime real estate has seen his wealth tumble slightly this year.
Worth £10.1bn according to 2019’s rich list, he was once the world’s richest person under 30.
The now 30-year-old’s fortune has shrunk £241m this year, however, the Duke still tops £10bn and leads the Young Rich List.
As the pandemic drew the arts industry to a close over the last year, with the streets of West End eerily quiet – Andrew Lloyd Webber saw his money pot cut 34 per cent short this year.
Shedding £275m, the British composer and an icon in London’s West End now has a fortune of £525m, as he dipped out of the UK’s richest 250 people.
Other notable names well known in Square Mile circles include: Kering owner, François-Henri Pinault and Salma Hayek (16th, £8.bn), Bet365 bosses Denise, John and Peter Coates (17th, £8.4bn), hedge fund honcho Michael Platt (18th, £8bn), Ineos boss Sir Jim Ratcliffe (25th, £6.3bn), and Sir Richard Branson (45th £3.79bn).
Best of the billionaire Brits
These are the 10 richest people in the country according to the Sunday Times rich list:
Sir Leonard Blavatnik | £23bn |
| David and Simon Reuben | £21.46bn |
| Sri and Gopi Hinduja and family | £17bn |
| Sir James Dyson and family | £16.3bn |
| Lakshmi Mittal and family | £14.68bn |
| Alisher Usmanov | £13.4bn |
| Kirsten and Jorn Rausing | £13bn |
| Roman Abramovich | £12.1bn |
| Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken and Michel de Carvalho | £12.01bn |
| Guy, George, Alannah and Galen Weston and family | £11bn |