Rich get richer in Britain despite credit crunch
27th October 2008
Members of Britain's rich-list are getting richer despite the global credit crunch turmoil and are now worth more than £400billion.
Members of Britain's rich-list are getting richer despite the global credit crunch turmoil and are now worth more than £400billion.
The Sunday Times have said the collective worth of the top 1,000 proud members of its annual Rich List rose by £53billion in the past year to £412.8billion.
There are however signs that the credit crunch and an economic slowdown is taking its toll on some. Islamic art and property mogul David Khalili saw his fortune slashed from £3.3billion to £2.5billion and the worth of clothing retailer Philip Green dropped £570million to £430million.
The Sunday Times also said that 762 of the richest 1,000 individuals were self-made millionaires, with land and property being the largest single source of their wealth.Creator of Harry Potter, JK Rowling's fortune was put at £560million after £545million 12 months ago, making her Britain's richest author, yet again.
The newspaper put Paul McCartney's wealth at £500million, close to the £400million calculated by the judge in his publicly scrutinised divorce this year from Heather Mills, but well short of the £800million she claimed he was worth.
How are Britain's top three richest fairing
Lakshmi Mittal
According to the Telegraph, Mr Mittal is currently in negotiations to buy a property in Kensington Palace Gardens, the most prestigious address in London. The deal is estimated to be finalised at around the £117million mark, eclipsing the previous high of £115million paid for a flat in nearby St James's Square.
Roman Abramovich
The Times reports that Abramovich has recently completed the record-breaking purchases of paintings by Lucian Freund and Francis Bacon for $33.6m and $86.3m respectively.
Abramovich, worth an estimated £11.7 billion in The Sunday Times Rich List this year, is said to have been influenced by his new model girlfriend Daria "Dasha" Zhukova, who has recently spoken of her desire to open a contemporary art gallery in Moscow.
Duke of Westminster
Despite a drastic fall in value of property in the UK, the Duke of Westminster still remains the richest property owner in Britain with an empire worth over £7billion, indicating that perhaps Britain's rich will remain that way irrespective of economic crisis.
