An explosion of wealth fuelled by a “Brexit boom” is captured by the new edition of The Sunday Times Rich List, which contains record riches and more billionaires than ever before.
The 29th edition of this newspaper’s definitive guide to UK wealth shows that the country’s 1,000 richest individuals and families have seen their combined fortunes surge by 14%, or £83bn, to £658bn over the past year.
Nineteen have increased their wealth by £1bn or more in a year and the top 500 entries of 2017 have more wealth than all 1,000 entries had 12 months ago. London has more billionaires — 86 — than any other city in the world.
● To browse the Rich List go to thesundaytimes.co.uk/richlist
The astonishing strength of this year’s Rich List defies expectations that wealth creation would stall in the lead-up to last summer’s European referendum and then crash after the vote to leave the EU.
A buoyant stock market has propelled the fortunes of many business leaders and entrepreneurs higher and higher.
Other wealthy individuals have benefited from the weaker pound since Britain voted for Brexit, boosting the sterling value of their overseas investments.
This year’s Rich List is headed by Sri and Gopi Hinduja. The Indian-born brothers’ fortune, made from property, oil, plastics and finance, has surged by £3.2bn to £16.2bn this year. They are currently transforming Westminster’s Old War Office into a luxury hotel.
In all there were 134 UK-based billionaires listed this year, up from 120 in 2016. Those to join this gilded elite this year include the software entrepreneurs Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, both 37, and the brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, who have built a £1bn fortune from petrol stations since the mid-1990s.
To break into the top 1,000 required £110m this year — double the £55m of 2009 and another record high.
The combined wealth of the top 500 of the Rich List hits £580.4bn this year, more than the £575.6bn total of the 1,000 richest people in 2016. The astonishing boom for the super-rich comes as a YouGov poll for The Sunday Times today finds that voters believe an annual salary of £100,000 or assets of £1m is enough to be considered rich.
The poll also reveals varying public attitudes to wealthy people. By two to one, voters think that London having more billionaires than cities such as New York is something to be proud about rather than embarrassed.
But more than half think it matters that the wealth of the richest is growing more quickly than that of the poorest in Britain and 78% would support higher taxes on the richest. By a margin of four to one they believe the government should make it harder rather than easier for people to become extremely rich.
Only 4% of voters admire those who inherited wealth, compared with 61% who admire authors, actors and musicians who earned money through creativity.
The Harry Potter author JK Rowling is now valued at £650m and the singer Adele enters the main list for the first time with a fortune of £125m after a phenomenal year of touring since the release of her album 25.
But there is even more regard for business leaders, respected by 65% of voters, and entrepreneurs who create their own firms, who enjoy the respect of 74%.
Sir James Dyson, the inventor who initially found success with his bagless vacuum cleaner, is one of the year’s biggest risers. His fortune has increased to £7.8bn — up from £5bn last year. In an interview in the new-look Rich List, Dyson attributes part of his success to reading just six emails a day.
The 130 women in the list of Britain’s 1,000 richest people is also a record. Denise Coates, who founded the Bet365 online gambling giant from a car park in Stoke, shares wealth with her family now put at £5bn.
The value of the 50 in the Young Rich List has surged from £3bn to £16bn in the past 12 months, largely thanks to two new entries. Lady Charlotte Wellesley joins the list after her marriage last year to Alejandro Santo Domingo, the Colombian-American brewing billionaire. The couple make their debut at £3.862bn.
But even Lady Charlotte is put in the shade by the new No 1 in the Young Rich List, the richest under-30 to appear in the publication. The seventh Duke of Westminster inherited his title, aged 25, last year on the unexpected death of his father. He leads the Grosvenor family with wealth put at £9.52bn.
However, not everyone on the Rich List has enjoyed a strong year. The retailers Sir Philip Green and Mike Ashley are together down more than £700m, losing about £2m a day between them since last year’s list.
Green has been hit by falling sales at his Arcadia group and a £363m bill for the BHS pension scheme. He and his wife Tina are this year valued at just under £2.8bn.
Profit warnings and Sports Direct’s falling share price have dented Ashley’s wealth, which is now put at £2.16bn.
The year’s biggest faller is the easyJet entrepreneur Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who has seen his fortune plummet by £640m to £1.95bn, amid uncertainty in the airline business over access to European routes post-Brexit.
Other significant fallers include the telecoms entrepreneur Sir Charles Dunstone and the Weston family, who own Primark, Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges.
Alastair McCall, editor of the Rich List, said: “While many of us worried about the outcome of the EU referendum, many of Britain’s richest people just kept calm and carried on making billions.
“We expected to see a chilling effect in the run-up to the EU referendum, but that simply did not materialise. A buoyant stock market usually drives the wealth of Rich Listers higher, and since last June equities have soared.
“We’re seeing more and more diversity in the make-up of the Rich List. More women, more people from ethnic minority 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.”
