A lot of us dream to be rich. Some people actually make it there, and become billionaires or millionaires. But how many? How many billionaires are there in the UK? And what exactly did they do to make their millions?
Well, first of all, there are 54 billionaires in the UK, according to Forbes. More importantly, these are the top 10 richest. So take notes – you never know, you might be on the list one day.
10. The Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor family – £10.3 billion
Hugh Richard Louis Grosvenor became the 7th Duke of Westminster following his father’s death in 2016. He is an aristocrat, billionaire, businessman and owner of the Grosvenor Group, an international property firm. He is descended from the 6th Duke of Westminster and Natalia Philips, a descendent of the Russian Romanov family. He is also the Accounts Manager at Bio-bean, a green energy company. When his father died, he inherited £9 billion. In April 2020, he donated several million to the UK governments response to COVID-19.
9. Charlene de Caravalho-Heineken and husband – £10.3 billion
In joint last, Charlene is a Dutch-British businesswoman who owns 23% controlling interest in Heineken. She’s the richest person in the Netherlands. Her husband is a financier and director of Citigroup, and he is a member of the supervisory board of Heineken NV.
8. Guy, George, Galen Jr Weston and family – £10.5 billion
This family have a history of business, from buying a bakery in Canada in 1884 to the present day. They own Canada’s largest supermarket chain, Loblaws. They also own Selfridges, Brown Thomas, Wittington Investments, Garfield Weston Foundation, Associated British Foods (which owns Primark), Fortnum and Masons, and Heal’s.
7. Alisher Usmanov – £11.7 billion
Usmanov is a Russian oligarch – meaning that he made a lot of money at the time of the fall of the Soviet Union. He made his wealth through mining and metal operations and is now a major shareholder in Metalloinvest. He also owns Kommersant publishing house, a national daily newspaper in Russia. He is a co-owner of MegaFon, one of Russia’s largest mobile telephone operators. Usmanov also owns Mail.Ru, one of the biggest internet companies in the Russian speaking world. On top of this, he is the president of the international governing body of fencing. He also has shares in Arsenal FC. His charity ‘Art, Science and Sport’ also works closely with the Tate.
6. Kirsten and Jorn Rausing – £12.1 billion
Both shareholders in TetraPak, the Swedish food packaging company, Kirsten and Jorn Rausing both have large shares in the company. Separately, however, Kirsten rears and breeds horses and Jorn is an investor in his own right!
5. Sir Jim Ratcliffe – £12.2 billion
Ratcliffe owns Ineos, a multinational chemical company, as well as owning FC Lausanne-Sport, a Swiss Super League football club, Team Sky cycling franchise, and is now sponsoring Mercedes AMG F1.
4. Sir Leonard Blavatnik – £15.8 billion
Owner of Access Industries, Blavatnik is a businessman, investor and philanthropist. He has received a knighthood for the latter. He owns petrochemical businesses, as well as media firms. Access Entertainment owns RatPac Entertainment, Warner Music Group, AI Film and owns the sports streaming service, DAZN.
3. David and Simon Reuben – £15.8 billion
British businessmen and brothers, the Reuben family started off in the Russian metals market and became the world’s third-biggest producer of aluminium. They now have investments in technology companies, focussing on this and real estate. They also have investments in Travelodge Hotels and Metro Bank.
2. The Hindujas – £16 billion
The Hinduja group is an Anglo-Indian conglomerate with its HQ in London. They work in automotive, oil, speciality chemicals, banking, finance, IT, cybersecurity, healthcare, trading, media, and real estate. They employ over 150,000 people.
1. Sir James Dyson – £16.2 billion
We’re all familiar with his name – James Dyson is the inventor and creator of the Dyson vacuum brand. He invented the Dual Cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner! He also opened a university in Wiltshire, the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology. He’s also helped to invent things like the seatruck, a ballbarrow, and the Wheelboat, an amphibious vehicle which can travel 40 mph on land and in water.
