Rich List 2022: Who are the wealthiest people in the UK?
The 2022 Sunday Times Rich List has been announced, with billionaire brothers Sri and Gopi Hinduja crowned as the wealthiest people in the UK.
The annual list revealed that the pair, who run the Mumbai-based conglomerate Hinduja Group, saw their wealth jump by more than £11bn ($13.3bn) this year to £28.47bn.
According to the figures, there were a record 177 billionaires in Britain, with a number of recognisable figures including Dyson vacuum entrepreneur James Dyson, who was second on the list after a £6.7bn increase to £23bn.
Property investors David and Simon Reuben came in in third place, with £22.26 billion, while Ukrainian-born Sir Leonard Blavatnik dropped from the top spot to fourth.
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However, this year, Roman Abramovich slipped out of the top 20 after the value of his assets was knocked by financial sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The former Chelsea football club owner was subjected to sanctions by the UK government after ministers accused him of having “clear connections” to Vladimir Putin’s regime.
He was one of seven Russians worth up to £15bn who had their assets frozen. His finances plummeted from £12.2bn last year to £6bn this year thanks to the enforced sale of Chelsea and the sharp fall in his Evraz shares.
Fellow Russians Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman also dropped down the 2022 rich list this year.
Meanwhile, ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak and wife Akshata Murty entered The Sunday Times Rich List for the first time with their joint £730m fortune.
This places them at number 222 on the list of the 250 wealthiest people in the UK, driven by Murty’s £690m stake in Infosys (INFY), an Indian IT company founded by her father.
Their inclusion in the list comes after intense public scrutiny due to Murty holding non-domiciled status, allowing her to reduce her UK tax bill.
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Overall, the richest 250 in the UK this year are worth £710.72bn, compared to £658.09bn in 2021, an 8% rise on last year, The Sunday Times said.
The publication of list comes amid Britain’s cost of living crisis which has seen 42% of households in the most deprived areas are buying less food and essentials to cope with soaring prices, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.
The 20 richest people in the UK according to the Rich List:
Sri and Gopi Hinduja and family – £28.47bn
Sir James Dyson and family – £23bn
David and Simon Reuben and family – £22.26bn
Sir Leonard Blavatnik – £20bn
Guillaume Pousaz – £19.26bn
Lakshmi Mittal and family – £17bn
Guy, George, Alannah and Galen Weston and family – £13.5bn
Kirsten and Jorn Rausing – £12bn
Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken and Michel de Carvalho – £11.42bn
Michael Platt – £10bn
Alisher Usmanov – £10bn
The Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor family – £9.73bn
Barnaby and Merlin Swire and family – £9.6bn
Marit, Lisbet, Sigrid and Hans Rausing – £9.49bn
Anil Agarwal – £9.2bn
Denise, John and Peter Coates – £8.64bn
John Fredriksen and family – £8.31bn
Christoph Henkel and family – £8.308bn
Mikhail Fridman – £8.22bn
Moshe Kantor – £8bn