The Sunday Times rich list 2024: The five richest people in Wales

The richest people in Wales have been revealed. They include a couple behind an opticians chain and property moguls, according to this year's edition of The Sunday Times Rich List, which has now been published online.

The list, which is updated annually, ranks the 350 richest people in the UK and has been printed in a special edition of The Sunday Times Magazine since 1989. This year's list of individuals and families have a combined wealth of £795.361bn – more than the the annual GDP of Poland.

The survey is based on identifiable wealth including land, property, other assets such as art and racehorses, or significant shares in publicly-quoted companies. It excludes bank accounts, which the paper has no access to.

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The 2024 edition of the magazine has seen the largest fall in the billionaire count in the guide's 36-year history. Having peaked at 177 billionaires in 2022 this year 165 billionaires have been reported in the UK. Try WalesOnline Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles, and brilliant new features.

Robert Watts, who compiled the list, said it suggests "Britain’s billionaire boom has come to an end". He said: "Many of our home-grown entrepreneurs have seen their fortunes fall and some of the global super-rich who came here are moving away.

“Thousands of British livelihoods rely on the super-rich to some extent. We’ll have to wait and see whether we have now reached peak billionaire and what that means for our economy."

The minimum entry this year is £350m and famous figures that have made the cut include Sir Elton John, Lord Lloyd-Webber, and David and Victoria Beckham. The list is broken down by regions and inclusion is based on a person's place of birth, the location of one of their main businesses, or a high-profile asset in an area. For money-saving tips sign up to our money newsletter here.

Some of richest people in Wales identified in the latest 76-page magazine are under 40 years old. They include Cardiff-born footballer Gareth Bale, Au Vodka founder Charlie Morgan from Swansea, and CEO of Net World Sports Alex Lovén. See more on that here.

But topping the list once again for the five richest individuals or families in Wales – who are worth in excess of a staggering £10bn between them – are venture capitalist Sir Michael Moritz and his novelist wife Harriet Heyman. Moritz's wealth has grown by more than £1bn since last year taking his worth to more than £4.5bn. The other four wealthiest entries on the list have also remained in the same ranking as last year.

These are Wales' five wealthiest individuals or families according to The Sunday Times Rich List 2024.

1. Sir Michael Moritz and Harriet Heyman

Source of wealth: Internet (Sequoia)

2024 wealth: £4.603bn

Yearly difference: Up £1.27bn

Former journalist Sir Michael Moritz, 69, was born in Cardiff and joined US investment house Sequoia Capital in 1986. He made his billions – which he shares with his American author wife Harriet Heyman – by making early investments into the likes of Google, PayPal, WhatsApp, YouTube, and a host of other tech giants before anyone else.

Moritz stepped down from running Sequoia Capital in 2012 for health reasons. He and his wife set up a foundation called Crankstart, which supports students from low-income families. In 2020 the foundation gave away $120m. Since 2005, as part of the Rich List, The Sunday Times has produced an annual giving list, which tracks the most generous philanthropists in the UK. Moritz and Heyman are the richest charitable people in Wales according to this year's Giving Lis- having donated more than 4% of their wealth to charitable causes landing them a spot in the top 10 most charitable in the UK.

2. Simon Nixon

Source of wealth: Internet and property (MoneySuperMarket)

2024 wealth: £1.88bn

Yearly difference: Up £55m

Simon Nixon, 56, who was born in Lincolnshire but grew up in Flintshire, remains in second place this year. He has made his fortune from his price-comparison website MoneySuperMarket, which he co-founded in 1993 before selling all his shares in it by 2016. Nixon has also made money from running holiday home website Simon Escapes through which people can rent his personal collection of luxury homes across the globe from Cornwall to Malibu.

3. Douglas and Dame Mary Perkins and family

Source of wealth: Opticians (Specsavers)

2024 wealth: £1.587bn

Yearly difference: Up £21m

Husband and wife Douglas Perkins, who was born in Llanelli, and Dame Mary Perkins, 80, are the founders of Specsavers, which they started from their spare bedroom. The pair came up with the idea of making a visit to the opticians like going to a shop rather than going to the doctor and turned the idea into a hugely profitable international business. You can read about 81-year-old Douglas Perkins' life growing up in Carmarthenshire here. This year the £21m increase in their fortune coincided with the opening of the 1,000th Specsavers store, according to The Sunday Times.

4. Sir Terry Matthews

Source of wealth: Telecoms (Mitel)

2024 wealth: £1.340bn

Yearly difference: Up £7m

Born in Newport Sir Terry, 80, is known for being Wales' first billionaire and has founded more than 100 companies. He was the richest man in Wales until he was knocked from the top spot by Sir Michael Moritz in 2012. He obtained a degree in electronics from Swansea University and later moved to Ontario in Canada where he co-founded telecommunications company Mitel in 1973. He owns the Celtic Manor resort in Newport having bought it in 1980.

5. David Sullivan and family

Source of wealth: Property, football, and media (Conegate)

2024 wealth: £1.168bn

Yearly difference: Up £50m

Born in Cardiff, David Sullivan, 75, became a millionaire by the age of 25 through selling pornographic content. By the late 1970s he controlled half of the UK's adult magazine market and 150 sex shops. In 1982 he was convicted of living off immoral earnings and spent 71 days behind bars but he told the Standard in 2012 that he did did not "feel embarrassed" by how he made his money.

"I've made a lot of people happy. If I was an arms manufacturer or a cigarette manufacturer, and my products killed millions of my clients, I'd have a bit of doubt about the whole thing. I was a freedom fighter. I believe in the right of adults to make their own decisions," he said.

He is currently the chairman and largest single shareholder of West Ham United F.C. He also operates an investment company, Conegate, which owns property in London including Russell & Bromley's flagship shops in Oxford Street.

For the full list of the 350 richest people in the UK head to The Times website.