Roman Abramovich - Second

Roman Abramovich

Rank : 2 Worth : £11,700m

A good financial year for Abramovich. His worth has gone up from last year, dispite a £150m divorce settlement last year.

The Russian originally made his fortune in oil but now has a £200m stake in the gold mining group Highland Gold, a smart move with the precious metal hitting $1,000 an ounce. He also has a stake worth £6.2 billion in Evraz, one of Russia’s largest steel groups.

Abramovich's wealth all started when, with Boris Berezovsky, he bought the Sibneft oil operation for about £120m. In 2005 it sold for £7.5 billion, most of which went to Abramovich.

Abramovich and Chelsea

An incident filled year for Roman Abramovich's Chelsea this year, who came so close to a first Champion's league win - surely the prize Abramovich hungers after the most. It seemed to be fate that the final held in Moscow would finally make it Chelsea's year. A missed penalty from Terry, who slipped, let Manchester United snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Chelsea (and Abramovich) seem to have learned a few lessons from the failed experiment with Grant, who went tantalisingly close to winning the Champions League and maintained a strong if ultimately unsuccessful challenge for the Premier League title but who lacked the personality, authority and standing in the game to continue long-term as the figurehead of the club.

Luiz Felipe Scolari has been named by Chelsea as their new manager, on a four-year contract worth in the region of £27m, putting to an end the club's pan-European hunt for a successor to Avram Grant.

Abramovich apparently demanded that the new manager be able to instil discipline in the dressing room and imbue the club with dignity. He had to have a proven track record at a significant level and, crucially, be able to establish a positive relationship with the owner, who takes an active interest in playing affairs.