There are now more billionaires living in the UK than ever before. How much money they have earned last year
The number of billionaires in Britain increased to a new record, last year. Not only are they more numerous, but also wealthier than the previous year.
Britain has now 134 billionaires, a record number in the UK and 14 more than last year’s, Evening Standard reports.
The UK’s wealthiest 1,000 people now have a record total wealth of £658 billion, a rise of 14 per cent on last year’s £575 billion figure, the Sunday Times Rich List has revealed.
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Elderly brothers Sri and Gopi Hinduja are the wealthiest people in the UK, with a fortune of £16.2 billion, made through investments spanning the oil and gas, automotive, IT, energy, media, banking, property and healthcare sectors.
Their latest investment project is to convert the Old War Office in London into a luxury five-star hotel and 88 luxury apartments for the super-rich.
While two decades ago people needed a fortune of £15 million to secure themselves a place on the rich list, currently, someone needs a minimum fortune of £110 million to get a place in the top 1,000.
“While many of us worried about the outcome of the EU referendum, many of the richest people just kept calm and carried on making billions,” Robert Watts, compiler of the rankings, said.
The second place on the list with a fortune of £15.982 billion is held by Ukrainian businessman Len Blavatnik, whose empire includes the Warner Music Group.
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On the third position are siblings David and Simon Reuben, 78 and 76 respectively, topped the Rich List in 2016, who have a fortune of £14 billion. Now they focus on prime London property including Connaught House, London Oxford airport and Arena Racing.
Lakshmi Mittal and his family had the biggest increase in wealth within the past 12 months, having added more than £6 billion to their £13.229 billion fortune, one of the highest annual rises to date, and is on the fourth place, ahead of Alisher Usmanov.
Usmanov, 63, who has a fortune of £11.791bn, grew rich through steel and iron ore mine, with his numerous assets including shares in Spotify and Airbnb, but also 30 per cent stake in football club Arsenal.
“We’re seeing more and more diversity in the composition of the Rich List. More women, more people from ethnic backgrounds, and more from surprising walks of life, with egg farmers and pet food makers lining up with hedge fund managers and private equity barons,” Robert Watts added.
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