UK’s billionaires got even richer during Covid as top 10 richest people are revealed
'The fact many of the super-rich grew so much wealthier at a time when millions of us worried for our livelihoods makes this a very unsettling boom'.
Britain’s richest people increased their wealth by more than a fifth in the past year as they saw business thrive during the Covid pandemic.
Analysis for the latest Sunday Times Rich List found wealth among billionaires increased by 21.7% over the year, rising by £106.5 billion to £597.2 billion despite wide economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The UK now has a record 171 billionaires, Sunday Times found as it revealed the top 10 wealthiest in the country.
Ukrainian-born Sir Leonard Blavatnik, an oil and media investor, is the country’s new richest man after a £7.2 billion surge took his fortune to around £23 billion.
Mr Blavatnik, who made $7 billion (£4.93 billion) by selling his stake in Russian oil company TNK-BP in 2013, knocked Sir James Dyson off the top spot.
His business interests include Warner Music which he sold a £1.37 billion stake in when it listed in the US last year.
Sir James Dyson slipped back to fourth in the table after his wealth increased by a comparatively little £100 million to £16.3 billion.
The ‘very unsettling boom’ for billionaires came in a year of almost unprecedented financial hardship for many hit by the pandemic.
The UK’s economy shrunk at its fastest rate for a century in 2020, with GBP dropping by 9.9%. It resulted in the closure of many businesses and saw unemployment rise to its highest rate in almost five years.
10 richest people in the country according to the rich list:
Sir Leonard Blavatnik – £23 billion
David and Simon Reuben – £21.46 billion
Sri and Gopi Hinduja and family – £17 billion
Sir James Dyson and family – £16.3 billion
Lakshmi Mittal and family – £14.68 billion
Alisher Usmanov – £13.4 billion
Kirsten and Jorn Rausing – £13 billion
Roman Abramovich – £12.1 billion
Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken and Michel de Carvalho – £12.01 billion
Guy, George, Alannah and Galen Weston and family – £11 billion
Also beating Sir James on the rich list were property developers David and Simon Reuben, who reached the second spot after their wealth increased by £5.46 billion to £21.46 billion.
Meanwhile, Sri and Gopi Hinduja, who run the Mumbai-based conglomerate Hinduja Group, saw their fortune rise by £1 billion to clinch the third spot.
Other notable billionaires to feature in the top 10 included Alisher Usmanov, whose wealth rose by £1.7 billion after selling his 30% stake in Arsenal football club.
Chelsea owner and fellow Russian Roman Abramovich also increased his wealth by £1.9 billion to £12.1 billion for the year.
Robert Watts, compiler of the rich list, said: ‘The global pandemic created lucrative opportunities for many online retailers, social networking apps and computer games tycoons.
‘The fact many of the super-rich grew so much wealthier at a time when thousands of us have buried loved ones and millions of us worried for our livelihoods makes this a very unsettling boom.’
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