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Top Billionaires No Longer Made In Britain

British billionaires are probably self-made and not from Britain, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List.

To qualify, wealthy families and entrepreneurs must live in Britain – but only five of the 14 richest people in the country are British by birth.

The other major shift is when the list first started, most wealth was inherited old money – now nine out of 10 have made their own success.

Sitting at the top of the list is chemical tycoon Jim Ratcliffe, who has built a vast fortune of £21 billion from his company Ineos.

The firm makes chemicals and oil-based products and employs more than 15,000 people worldwide.

Rags to riches

His rags to riches story started with an upbringing on a Manchester council estate – and he did not start a business until he was 40 years old – he is now aged 65.

Other stories of struggle include that of Tony Pidgely – net worth £310 million from housebuilding – who was orphaned as a child and spent many years living in a disused railway carriage.

Penny Streeter – net worth £140 million – founded a recruitment company as a single mum living in a homeless refuge.

Ratcliffe toppled the Hinduja brothers Sri and Gopi, who have amassed wealth of £20 billion from finance and industry, who headed the list last year with riches of £16 billion.

Warner Music owner Sir Len Blavatnik also drops a place from second last year to third after amassing £15 billion – down £72 million in 12 months.

Women took 141 of the top 1,000 places on the list – another record.

Top 10 Richest People in the UK

Rank Net worth (billions) Name Nationality Source of wealth
1 £21.05 Jim Ratcliffe UK Industry
2 £20.64 Sri & Gopi Hinduja UK Industry and finance
3 £15.26 Leonard Blavatnik USA Investment, music and media
4 £15.09 David & Simon Reuben UK Property and Internet
5 £14.66 Lakshmi Mittal India Steel
6 £11.10 Charlene & Michel de Carvalho Netherlands Inheritance, banking, brewing
7 £10.84 Kirsten & Jörn Rausing Sweden Inheritance and investment
8 £10.55 Alisher Usmanov Russia Mining and investment
9 £10.05 Galen & George Weston Canada & UK Retailing
10 £9.96 Duke of Westminster UK Property

Source: Sunday Times

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