Rich List reveals Brexit billionaire boom: Number with 10-figure fortunes rises to record 134 people as Britain's most affluent 1,000 see their wealth increase by £58bn since the Leave vote

  • Sri and Gopi Hinduja are the richest people in the UK with a fortune of £16.2bn
  • 2017 list found the wealthiest 1,000 people have a record total wealth of £658bn
  • There are 134 billionaires in the UK, up 14 from last year despite Brexit concerns 
  • The richest woman was named Kirsty Bertarelli who has a fortune of £11.5bn  

The number of people with ten-figure fortunes has risen to a record of 134 people as Britain's most affluent 1,000 saw their wealth increase by £58billion since the country voted to leave the European Union.

This means the country now has more billionaires than ever before in history, despite fears the vote would affect the country's wealth.

Brothers Sri and Gopi Hinduja have topped this year's Sunday Times Rich List, with a combined fortune of £16.2bn. 

Brothers Sri and Gopi Hinduja have topped this year's Sunday Times Rich List overall, with a combined fortune of £16.2bn

Brothers Sri and Gopi Hinduja have topped this year's Sunday Times Rich List, with a combined fortune of £16.2bn 

Sisters Fawn and India Rose James (left), granddaughters of porn baron Paul Raymond, featured in the list, ranking at 234
The richest woman in the UK remained Kirsty Bertarelli (above), who has a fortune of £11.5bn. This means the former songwriter has earned £1.72bn in the last year alone

Sisters Fawn and India Rose James (left), granddaughters of porn baron Paul Raymond, featured in the list, ranking at 234. Pictured right: Kirsty Bertarelli was named the richest woman in the UK, ranking six out of the entire country with a fortune of £11.5bn

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.

Back in 1997 it took a personal wealth of just £15 million to make the grade.

Having first topped the list in 2014, the Hinduja brothers, Srichand, 81, and Gopichand, 77, have a vast array of business investments under the Hinduja Group.

With investments spanning the oil and gas, automotive, IT, energy, media, banking, property and healthcare sectors, their latest project is the conversion of The Old War Office in London into a sumptuous five-star hotel and 88 luxury apartments for the world's super-rich.

But it wasn't all good news for everyone, as disgraced Philip Green saw his fortune plummet by an eye-watering £433million.

He is still worth a cool £2.787bn however but has slipped to 41 in the UK overall.

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.

'We expected to see a chilling effect in the run-up to the EU referendum, but that simply did not materialise.

Singer Adele saw her wealth increase by £40million this year with the help of a world tour and the continued success from her most recent album 25 

Singer Adele saw her wealth increase by £40million this year with the help of a world tour and the continued success from her most recent album 25 

'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 and pet food makers lining up with hedge fund managers and private equity barons.'

Ukrainian businessman Len Blavatnik, whose empire includes the Warner Music Group, is in second place on the list with a fortune of £15.982bn.

Siblings David and Simon Reuben, 78 and 76 respectively, topped the Rich List in 2016, and rank third this year despite a £900m rise in their wealth in the past 12 months.

It wasn't good news for everyone as Philip Green saw his fortune plummet by an eye-watering  £433million

Disgraced: It wasn't good news for everyone as Philip Green saw his fortune plummet by an eye-watering £433million

The pair, who have a fortune of £14bn, now focus on prime London property including Connaught House, London Oxford airport and Arena Racing.

Lakshmi Mittal and family are fourth and boast the biggest increase in wealth within the past 12 months, having added more than £6bn to their £13.229bn fortune, one of the highest annual rises to date.

Mittal, 66, is the largest steelmaker in the world and has felt the benefits of the industry's resurgence.

Shares in his main operation, ArcelorMittal, went up sharply following a 1.8bn dollar profit in 2016.

Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich is in 13th place with a fortune of £8.053bn, an increase of £1.653bn

Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich is in 13th place with a fortune of £8.053bn, an increase of £1.653bn

Taking fifth position is Alisher Usmanov, 63, who has a 30 per cent stake in football club Arsenal, with a fortune of £11.791bn.

He grew rich through steel and iron ore mine, with his numerous assets including shares in Spotify and Airbnb.

The only top 20 entrants to have suffered a loss this year are Guy, George and Galen Junior Weston and family who sit in seventh position.

The food and retail giants have lost £500m due to the drop in price of ABF shares, a company in which they own a 20.8 per cent stake, which is behind brands such as Ryvita and Kingsmill, and has fashion chain Primark as a subsidiary.

Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich is in 13th place with a fortune of £8.053bn, an increase of £1.653bn.

The Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor family are in ninth position with a fortune of £9.52bn, an increase of 170m.

The sixth Duke of Westminster, Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, died last August, and his title was passed down to his son Hugh.

The 20 richest alone are worth £191.765bn and have increased their cumulative wealth by £35.175bn in the past year.  

It was a good year for woman too, according to the list, with the richest woman in the country ranked at number six overall.

Former Miss UK and songwriter Kirsty Bertarelli alongside her husband are now worth £11.5bn, up £1.72bn from this time last year.

Pictured: The UK's richest woman Kirsty Bertarelli with her husband Ernesto 

Pictured: The UK's richest woman Kirsty Bertarelli with her husband Ernesto 

The sixth Duke of Westminster, Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, died last August, and his title and estate was passed down to his son Hugh (pictured) 

The sixth Duke of Westminster, Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, died last August, and his title and estate was passed down to his son Hugh (pictured) 

This makes her the country's richest woman, surpassing the Queen and author J K Rowling.    

Meanwhile the richest woman under 30 was named as singer Adele who has seen a £40m increase in fortunes in the last twelve months, thanks the success of a world tour.  

Also in the list are sisters Fawn and India Rose James, granddaughters of porn baron Paul Raymond, featured in the list, ranking at 234.

The siblings inherited a £454m fortune, making India the youngest person grace the Sunday Times Rich List as she first entered the chart at the age of 23. 

Her grandfather Paul Raymond, with whom she was fiercely close, built up his fortune launching the country’s first topless dancing club and introducing top-shelf magazines to the UK.

Along the way, the self-proclaimed 'King of Soho' acquired the freeholds on almost two-thirds of Soho’s properties, building up a seedy business empire estimated to be worth around £650million.

According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2013, when their grandfather died in 2008 at the age of 82, Miss James and her sister Fawn, 28, inherited 80 per cent of his money and businesses.    

 

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