Britain has more billionaires than ever before, 2017 Rich List reveals

Britain has more billionaires than ever before, according to the new Sunday Times Rich List.

کد خبر: ۶۹۱۵۸۹

تاریخ: ۱۷ ارديبهشت ۱۳۹۶ - ۱۱:۴۰

The 2017 list, which is in its 29th year, reveals London has more billionaires than any other city in the world, with 86.

There are now 134 billionaires in the UK, which has increased from 120 in last year's list.

The latest individuals to join the elite billionaire club are software entrepreneur Mike Cannon-Brooke and his business partner Scott Farquhar.

Just two years ago Mr Cannon-Brooke was worth £591m and has almost doubled his wealth since.

Brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, from Blackburn, who made their wealth through their petrol station empire also join the billionaires on the list.

Topping the list are brothers Sri and Gopi Hinduja who have been ranked the richest people in Britain.

The pair previously held the title in 2014, but have been in second place for the last two years.

However, this year they have seen their wealth increase by a further £3.2bn to take them to the top of list with a fortune of £16.2bn.

The Hinduja brothers have gained their wealth through property development and car manufacturing. They are presently behind the redevelopment of the old War Office in London's Whitehall which they are transforming into a £1bn hotel.

The combined wealth of the top 500 individuals was £580.4bn, which is more than the £575.6bn total of all 1,000 richest people last year.

The total wealth of the top 1,000 people on the list has increased by 14 per cent since last year, according to the Rich List. It has risen by £83bn to £658bn.

In 2016 the super-rich suffered their worst fall in fortune since the credit crunch in 2007.

It saw previous title holder Lakshmi Mittal, who topped the list in 2008 with £27.7bn — the biggest fortune achieved by anyone on the Rich List before or since, lose  three-quarters of his wealth and drop to £7.12bn.

This year singer Adele enters the main list for the first time with a fortune of £125m and becomes the richest musician under 30 in Britain and Ireland.

The Hello singer's global success has rocketed her wealth to a £125m - an increase of almost 50 per cent in the past year alone.

She is the 19th richest musician - and only solo female artist - in the Music Millionaires list, which is topped by Sir Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell who are worth a combined £780m.

Harry Potter author JK Rowling is listed as having a £650m fortune, her wealth has grown 10 times since she first entered the list on £65m in 2001.

To gain a place in the top 1,000 individuals needed a fortune of £110m this year.