RESULTS FOR 2008
Ranking: 2
Worth: £11,700m
Source of wealth: Oil and Industry

Abramovich, 41, may have spent £578m on Chelsea since he bought the London club in 2003 but he has not lost his appetite for business outside football. The Russian made his fortune in oil but now has a £200m stake in the gold mining group Highland Gold, a smart move with the precious metal hitting $1,000 an ounce. He also has a stake worth £6.2 billion in Evraz, one of Russia’s largest steel group s. His £150m divorce settlement last year made little impression on the Abramovich fortune. The success story started when, with Boris Berezovsky (qv), he bought the Sibneft oil operation for about £120m. When it was sold in 2005 for £7.5 billion, most of that went to Abramovich. Forbes values him at £11.57 billion while Russian business magazine Finans goes for £11.83 billion. We settle for a mid-point of £11.7 billion.

RESULTS FOR 2007
Ranking: 2
Worth: £10,800m
Source of wealth: Oil and Industry