THE TELEGRAPH: The collective wealth of Britain’s 1,000 richest people has increased by almost a third in the past year despite the uncertain economy, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2010.
The multimillionaires are worth £335.5 billion, up £77.265 billion (29.9 per cent) on last year, according to the latest edition of The Sunday Times’ Rich List 2010.
The rise is easily the largest annual increase in the 22 years that the survey has been carried out.
In 1997, when Labour came to power, the collective wealth of the then richest 1,000, was just £98.99 billion. In total, the number of billionaires in this year’s list has risen from 43 to 53.
The findings are likely to prove controversial, coming just ahead of the general election and with spending cuts and tax rises expected from whichever party wins.
Top of the Sunday Times Rich List 2010 again is Lakshmi Mittal, the steel tycoon, whose fortune has more than doubled from £10.8 billion last year to £22.45 billion.
He is followed by: Roman Abramovich, the oil and industry magnate and owner of Chelsea FC, worth £7.4bn - up six per cent on last year; the Duke of Westminster, the property owner, now worth £6.75bn, an increase of four per cent; and Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli, whose £5,950 million wealth, based on pharmaceuticals, has increased by 20 per cent. Kirsty Bertarelli is also considered the richest woman in the list. >>> Jasper Copping | Saturday, April 24, 2010