GROPE-CLAIM GREEN SEES FORTUNE SLIP
FORMER BHS BILLIONAIRE PAYS PRICE
DISGRACED retail tycoon Sir Philip Green has lost half his fortune because of the pension crisis in his empire – and is no longer a billionaire.
The Sunday Times Rich List has his fortune free-falling £1.05billion in a year to £950million.
But the plummet still places Green and wife Tina at 156th on the list, down from joint 66th 12 months earlier.
The Arcadia Group – which includes Topshop, Burton and Dorothy Perkins – was valued as worthless in this year’s list, as the company copes with a pension debt which hit £565million.
The couple’s stake in the company was last year valued at £750million but £300million was removed from their worth to allow the shoring up of the deficit.
With his wealth peaking at almost £5billion in 2007, it is the first time in 17 years that Green has not been listed as a billionaire.
Robert Watts, who BY SAM BLEWETT reporters@dailyrecord.co.uk compiled the list, said he struggles to envisage the tycoon returning to the “upper echelons”.
He said: “Green may have clung on to his knighthood but we can no longer justify his status as one of the UK’s billionaires.
“This is the first time since 2002 he has not been in that top tier.”
Green was lambasted over the collapse of BHS, affecting 11,000 jobs, 19,000 pension holders and leaving a £571million hole in the pension scheme.
The businessman, who sold the department store chain to Dominic Chappell for £1 before it plunged into administration, agreed to pay £363million towards the deficit.
Green has also faced a slew of allegations, including one of groping a female executive and one of making a racial slur at an employee.
The Croydon-born entrepreneur denied his behaviour was criminal or amounted to gross misconduct.
Elsewhere in the rich list, Sir James Dyson reached his highest ever position as he prepares to move Dyson’s head office from Wiltshire to Singapore.
The Brexitbacking businessman climbed seven places to No5, with his wealth estimated at £12.6billion.
Leading the way are the Hinduja brothers Sri and Gopi, the magnates who were said to have amassed a £22billion fortune, more than £3billion ahead of David and Simon Reuben.
In third is Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the boss of petrochemicals firm Ineos who fell from first place after his wealth fell to £18.15billion.