The Sunday Times Rich List has been published, showcasing the often obscene levels of wealth accumulated by the upper echelons who call the UK home.
Jumping to the top of the list, up from third in 2021, are brothers Sri and Gopi Hinduja and family who collectively boast personal wealth of nearly £28.5bn. Both are in their 80s and added a staggering £11.5bn to their family fortune over the past year.
The Hinduja’s replace Sir Leonard Blavatnik, whose wealth dropped by £3bn to £20bn. The Ukraine-born businessman sits fourth this year; beaten by home appliance entrepreneur Sir James Dyson and Family (2nd with total wealth of £23bn) and property investor brothers David and Simon Reuben and Family (3rd with £22.3bn).
The single biggest jump in wealth was £13.7bn, which helped online payment entrepreneur Guillaume Pousaz land in fifth place with a net worth of £19.3bn. He was ranked 33rd in 2021.
Collectively, the top 10 hold £182.9bn in wealth.
Property, finance and hedge funds
The world has a fascination with wealth that borders on inappropriate. How did they get it and how long will they keep it are two of the most burning questions.
If the latest list is anything to go by, property, finance and hedge funds are the most common routes to accumulate vast sums of money.
While some people on the Rich List have multiple sources of wealth, 60 of the 250 people/families are associated with ‘property’, 25 with ‘finance’, 15 with hedge funds and 13 with ‘investments’.
Of the hedge funders, the only woman listed is Akshata Murty alongside her husband Rishi Sunak (pictured), the UK’s chancellor of the exchequer.
While finance may be a well-trodden path to wealth, some ended last year poorer than they were a year ago. The biggest drop was achieved by Leonie Schroder and family, who saw their fortune drop £573m to £4.6bn. The Schroder family could see their wealth dip further if plans to amend the firm’s dual-class share structure are backed later this year.
Hargreaves Lansdown’s co-founders ended the year with £2.1bn and £1.2bn, respectively, with Peter Hargeaves down £342m compared with a £128m drop for Steve Lansdown.
Abramovich wealth falls by £6bn
Of the 250 names, there were 21 new entries, 24 experienced no change in their wealth and 77 were worse off in 2022 compared with a year ago.
In light of the sanctions against Russia, that Roman Abramovich was this year’s biggest loser is no surprise. He fell to 28th in the list, from 8th last year, after his fortune was cut in half to £6bn.
The ‘least wealthy’ people on the list have £650m.
It also remains heavily male dominated:
- Man listed alone: 116
- Woman listed alone: 7
- Couple: 20
- Family: 16
- Man and family: 78
- Woman and family: 12
