The list shows that Britain's 1,000 richest individuals are worth £258.27 billion, compared with nearly £413 billion last year, a 37 per cent fall and the biggest drop in the Rich List's 21-year history. The number of billionaires in Britain has also plummeted to 43, down from 75 last year, with the bottom line for inclusion on to the Rich List falling this year to £55 million. In 2008 it stood at £80 million. The biggest loser this year is Lakshmi Mittal, the steel tycoon, who lost nearly £17 billion of his wealth over the past year. Though still the richest man in the country, with an estimated fortune of £10.8 billion, Mittal, the founder of the Arcelor Mittal steel company, has seen his wealth drop from £27.7 billion last year. Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch and Chelsea Football Club owner, has also suffered heavy losses, but retains his position of second on the list. His fortune has dropped by more than 40 per cent to £7 billion, down from £11.7 billion last year. The fall in property prices and the subsequent collapse of the house building industry has been a major factor in the changes to this year's Sunday Times Rich List. In 2007, the list of the 1,000 richest people in Britain included 64 house builders. This year, it features only 42. The Duke of Westminster, in third place on the list, has seen his extensive property empire drop in value from £7 billion to £6.5 billion. Industry, however, is one area that appears relatively unaffected, with 113 industrialists included on the list, only one less than last year. Wealthy women are also thriving in the recession, with the number of women in the top 1,000 rising to 100 – a record in the Sunday Times Rich List's history. They include Natalie Massenet, the founder of the Net-a-Porter fashion website, who is a new entry with an estimated fortune of £53 million. Divorce payouts have also had a significant impact on this year's list with the break up of Bernie and Slavica Ecclestone's marriage seeing the former model earning her own place on the list, with an estimated fortune of £734 million. Madonna and Guy Ritchie also previously appeared in the list together, with a joint fortune of £300 million. But following their recent divorce, Ritchie's wealth stands at around £50 million, earning him a place in the top 2,000 list. Madonna has moved back to America and is therefore not eligible for inclusion. The Sunday Times Rich List also shows that the fortunes of the wealthiest people in the world have been hit by the global economic downturn, with the 50 richest people in the world now worth £605.9 billion, a fall of £117.5 billion from last year. The Walton family, who own the Walmart retailing group, are the richest individuals in the world, with a collective fortune of £52.3 billion.Sunday Times Rich List 2009 – Analysis
The Sunday Times Rich List 2009 reveals that Britain's wealthiest individuals have lost £155 billion in the last year.
Sunday 26 April 2009
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