Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal has topped The Sunday Times Rich List 2008
for the fourth year running. Mittal, 57, is the richest man in Europe and
has seen his family’s fortune rise by almost 44% in a year to £27.7bn.
And according to the Rich List, published tomorrow, Britain's super-rich have
never been wealthier. Collectively the top 1,000 multimillionaires are now
worth more than £412.8bn, up nearly £53bn (14.7%) on last year.
Wealth expert Philip Beresford, who has compiled The Sunday Times Rich List
since it was first published in 1989, said foreign billionaires were the
ones rising up the list.
“Until now, the 11 years of Labour government have proved a boon for the
super-rich, rarely seen before in modern British history. However, much of
the rise in this year’s wealth can be attributed to one factor: the number
of foreign rich who have made London or its environs their main home and
base of operation."
This year 40 of the 75 billionaires in the Rich List come from countries such
as Russia, India, Germany and Israel, as well as Scandinavia.
Meanwhile, there are two new entrants to the top 10.
Alisher Usmanov the Russian steel magnate who is the largest shareholder in
Arsenal football club with a stake of 24.2%, joins the list for the first
time in fifth ranking with a fortune of just under £5.73bn.
One place below Usmanov, and equally at number six are Ernesto and Kirsty
Bertarelli who share a fortune of £5.65bn built on pharmaceuticals. Kirsty,
from Staffordshire, was Miss UK 20 years ago, before she married Ernesto.
The Bertarelli’s yachting team has won the prestigious America’s Cup twice
in a row for Switzerland.
However, not everyone has been as successful and a number of home-grown
billionaires have seen their wealth hit by the economic downturn.
Monaco-based Sir Philip Green, who with his wife Tina, owns Bhs and Topshop,
last month described trading conditions on the high street as horrible. The
Greens have seen the value of their retail fortune drop by more than 10% in
a year.
Sir Richard Branson has dropped nine places in this year’s Rich List, from 11
to 20. His transport, internet and mobile phone empire has fallen by £400m
in a year to £2,700m.
Higher energy costs and more competition from the Middle East have led to a
huge downturn in the fortune of Ineos chemicals billionaire Jim Ratcliffe,
owner of the strike-torn Grangemouth refinery. Ratcliffe, ranked number 10
last year with a fortune of £3.3bn, up from equal 45 in 2006 when his wealth
stood at £1.1bn, now sits at 25 and is worth £2.3bn.
