Non-Resident Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal continues to be the richest man in the UK in 2009, despite his wealth dwindling by 16.9 billion pounds in a year owing to the global recession, The Sunday Times Rich List claimed.
India's Mukesh and Anil Ambani have been jointly ranked as the sixth richest in the world with a fortune of 20.5 billion pounds.
Roman Abramovich, the Russian owner of Chelsea Football Club, keeps his position at second on the list despite also suffering from the downturn. His fortune has fallen to seven billion pounds from 11.7 billion pounds.
America's the Walton family of Wal-Mart is the richest in the world-with 52.3 billion pounds. Lakshmi Mittal is 21st richest in the world.
Leading NRI entrepreneur Lord Swraj Paul, Chairman of the Caparo Group, has seen his wealth dropping by one billion pounds in the past year-from 1.5 billion pounds to 500 million pounds now, the paper reported. The recession has wiped off 155 billion pounds from the fortunes of Britain's 1,000 richest people.
The unprecedented collapse is the biggest annual fall since the Rich List was first compiled 21 years ago, the paper said. The number of billionaires in the Rich List has fallen from 75 last year to 43 this year. Between them, people ranked in the top 100 lost 93 billion pounds. Only three saw their wealth increase.
58-year-old Mittal has sustained losses of more than three times the level of Roman Abramovich, his nearest rival in the down-shifting stakes. Stock market turmoil and fears of declining demand for steel have shrunk the value of the Mittal family stake in Arcelor Mittal from a record 33 million pounds last June to about 8.2 billion pounds.
The Duke of Westminster is the richest Briton and continues to occupy third position overall, next to Lakshmi Mittal and Roman Abramovich, with a fortune of 6.5 billion pounds.
Besides Mittal, others listed in the category of Britain's 25 richest Asian millionaires are Anil Agarwal (mining - 600 million pounds), Anurag Dikshit (internet gambling 559 million pounds), Lord Paul and family (industry 500 million pounds), Sir Anwar Pervez and family (Cash & Carry 489 million pounds), Felix Grovit (Foreign exchange 430 million pounds), Bhikhu and Vijay Patel (Pharmaceuticals 370 million pounds) among others. Jet Airlines Chairman Naresh Goyal and family has fortune worth 182 million pounds, while Dr Kartar and Tej Lalvani (food supplements) has wealth worth 120 million pounds.
Meanwhile, the number of women in the top 1,000 has increased this year to a record 100. A number of them have built up their own businesses, 20 such as Carole Nash, who carved out a niche insuring motorbikes and has made a fortune of 65 million pounds.
According to the Richlist 2009, America's Walton family (Retailing - Walmart) are the richest in the world with a fortune of 52.3 billion pounds, followed by Germany's supermarkets owner Karl & Theo Albrecht 27.9 billion pounds and Bill Gates, Microsoft chief, with 27.7 billion pounds. |
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