Britain’s richest just keep on prospering
● The UK now has more billionaires than ever before – 134
The UK has more billionaires than at any time in history, according to the sunday times Rich List.
This year, the wealthiest 1,000 individuals and families have a record combined wealth of £658 billion, up 14 per cent on last year’s £575bn.
Sri and Gopi Hinduja are the richest people in the UK with a fortune of £16.2bn, and the brothers are among a record 134 billionaires on the list, 14 more than were recorded in the 2016 edition.
Adele came in at the richest musician under 30 in Britain and Ireland.
Plain old millionaires increasingly struggle to count themselves among the mega-rich, with a fortune of £110 million now required to make it into the top 1,000.
In 1997 a personal wealth of just £15m was needed to make the grade. Having first topped the list in 2014, the Hinduja brothers have a vast array of business investments under the Hinduja Group.
The richest family in Scotland are the grant gordon family, distillers from Banffshire, with a wealth of £2.27 bn, up £210m on last year.
Robert Watts, compiler of the 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.
“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 composition of the Rich List – more women, more people from ethnic backgrounds and more from surprising walks of life, with egg farmers lining up with hedge fund managers.