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Richest Person In UK Revealed In Annual List

Richest Person In UK Revealed In Annual List

Ukrainian-born Len Blavatnik, owner of Warner Music Group, has topped the Sunday Times Rich List with a £13.17bn fortune.

Jumping from fourth last year, Mr Blavatnik is now estimated to be the richest person in the UK – despite being an American citizen.

The 57-year-old edged out last year’s top dogs, Sri and Gopi Hinduja, owners of the Hinduja Group, who have £13bn.

Mr Blavatnik’s investments have included stakes in Spotify and headphone-maker Beats Electronics, and in 2011 he bought Warner for $3.3bn in cash.

A keen art collector, he is said to have splashed out £9m last year in an auction for Damien Hirst's gold-plated woolly mammoth.

His philanthropic efforts include a £75m donation to Oxford University to establish a school of government in his name.

The men behind Primark and Selfridges also had an extremely lucrative year.

Galen and George Weston and family saw their wealth soar by £3.7bn to £11bn, making them Britain’s third richest.

Elsewhere on the list, Arsenal co-owner Alisher Usmanov placed fourth with £9.8m.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich however, reportedly had a disappointing year, with the Sunday Times claiming £1.23bn has been wiped off his fortune – which now stands at £7.29bn.

The annual list is an estimate of wealth including land, property, assets or significant shares, but excludes bank accounts.

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson is one of a few British-born billionaires in the top 25, with an estimated £4.1bn fortune.

Sports Direct and Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley comes joint 22nd with £3.5bn, tied with both Top Shop owner Sir Philip Green and vacuum inventor Sir James Dyson.

The collective wealth of the UK’s richest 1,000 has more than doubled over the last 10 years, according to the list.

They now have a combined fortune of nearly £550bn. In 2005 that figure was just £249bn.

To even make it into this year’s top 1000 requires £100m, ruling out most music and sport stars.

One notable exception is ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney who is estimated to have £730m, making him the country’s richest musician.

The Sunday Times Rich List Top 10

1. Len Blavatnik - £13.17bn

2. Sri and Gopi Hinduja - £13bn

3. Galen and George Weston and family - £11bn

4. Alisher Usmanov - £9.8bn

5. David and Simon Reuben - £9.7bn

6. Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli - £9.45bn

7. Lakshmi Mittal and family - £9.2bn

8. Kirsten and Jorn Rausing - £8.7bn

9. The Duke of Westminster - £8.56bn

10. Roman Abramovich - £7.29bn