London-based magnate Len Blavatnik is richest of Britain’s 85 billionaires with £23bn fortune as Forbes rich list shows world’s wealthiest have increased their riches by £6 TRILLION during Covid pandemic

• Ineos boss Sir James Ratcliffe is the second highest ranked resident at 113th
• Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is named the world’s richest person with £128billion worth
• There are 2,755 billionaires worldwide, with a combined net worth of £9.4trillion 

Britain is home to 85 billionaires, according to Forbes’ annual ranking that reveals the planet’s richest have increased their worth by almost £6trillion during the pandemic.

London-based magnate Len Blavatnik tops the UK list with a net worth of £23billion, placing 46th on the global leaderboard. 

Ineos boss Sir James Ratcliffe is the second highest ranked resident at 113th with £12.3billion, just above beer mogul Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken at 116th with £12.1billion.

Sixty-six of the UK’s billionaires live in London, making it the seventh most-densely populated city in the world for the uber-rich, who have a combined net worth of £229billion in the capital.

Silicon Valley tycoons dominated the top of the global rankings, with Amazon’s Jeff Bezos named the world’s richest person with £128billion, up £46billion from last year.

SpaceX’s Elon Musk, Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Louis Vuitton’s Bernard Arnault round out the top five, in that order. 

There are 2,755 billionaires worldwide, and they have an eye-watering combined net worth of £9.4trillion.

The authors of Forbes 35th annual list said the number of billionaire’s ‘exploded’ to ‘unprecedented’ levels during the pandemic, at a time when many businesses did not survive harsh lockdowns. 

London-based magnate Len Blavatnik tops the UK list with a net worth of £23billion, placing 46th in the global leaderboard 

Silicon Valley tycoons dominated the top of the global rankings, with Amazon’s Jeff Bezos named the world’s richest person £128billion, up £46billion from a year ago 

#46 Len Blavatnik – £23.16B

Age: 63 

Industry: Music and chemicals 

The Ukrainian-born magnate sits atop an empire that spans from entertainment to chemicals.

After graduating from Colombia University with a degree in computer science, he made investments in Russian energy companies following the fall of the Soviet Union.

In 2013 he sold his stake in oil company TNK-BP, netting him more than £5billion.  Two years prior, he had bought Warner Music for £2.4billion. 

The philanthropist currently lives in London and has donated to UK institutions including Oxford University, which named its Blavatnik School of Government after him.

He has also donated to both U.S. Republicans and Democrats, including to Donald Trump.

#113 Sir James Ratcliffe – £12.30B

Age: 68

Industry: Chemicals

The embodiment of a self-made man, Sir James was born the son of a joiner and lived in a Lancashire council house until the age of 10.

He graduated with a degree in chemical engineering from Birmingham University in 1974.

In 1998 he founded Ineos, which today is one of the world’s biggest chemicals manufacturers.

Recently it has entered the shale market and its huge 600ft Dragon ships transport shale gas from the U.S. to Europe. 

The 68-year-old lives in London and recently announced he would fund sailor Sir Ben Ainslie to have another attempt at winning the America’s Cup for Britain. 

Ineos boss Sir James Ratcliffe is the second highest ranked resident at 113th with £12.3billion

#116 Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken & family – £12.09B 

Age: 66 

Industry: Beer

Although Dutch, de Carvalho-Heineken now lives in London, and is one of the richest women on the planet.

Her great-grandfather Gerard Adriaan Heineken opened the first brewery in Amsterdam 150 years ago.

Heineken is now one of the world’s most popular beer brands, and, although de Carvalho-Heineken is now a non-executive director, her 23 per cent stake in the businesses gives her a staggering net worth. 

Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken, middle, is one of the richest women on the planet

#128 Mikhail Fridman – £11.22B 

Age: 56 

Industry: Oil, banking, telecoms

The Russian father-of-five now calls Britain his home after buying Athlone House in North London for £65million in 2016.

Together with fellow billionaires German Khan and Alexei Kuzmichev, Fridman owns Alfa Group and LetterOne investment groups.

Moscow-based Alfa Group’s interests span banking, telecoms and natural resources.

He netted £3.7billion in 2013 when the trio and partners sold shares in Russian oil giant TNK-BP. 

Mikhail Fridman now calls Britain his home after buying Athlone House in North London for £65million in 2016

=#133 Hinduja brothers –  £10.78B  

Industry: Diversified

Siblings Srichand, Gopichand, Prakash and Ashok control the expansive Hinduja conglomerate that boasts businesses including transportation to banking to real estate.

They own the Old War Office building in Whitehall, which will soon be transformed into a Raffles hotel.

Hinduja group employs over 150,000 people worldwide. The brother are all devour Hindus and are vegetarian and tee-total. 

Srichand and Gopichand live in London, while Prakash resides in Monaco and Ashok in India.  

Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja, who, along with Prakash and Ashok, control the expansive Hinduja conglomerate

Lakshimi Mittal is chairman of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel and mining business since the two companies’ merger in 2006

 =#133 Lakshmi Mittal – £10.78B 

Age: 70 

Industry: Metals and mining 

Mittal is chairman of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel and mining business since the two companies’ merger in 2006.

The firm took a hit last year, and reported £500million losses as the global steel market dipped.

Earlier this year Mittal handed the chief executive reins to his son Aditya but retained the chairmanship. 

Mittal is an Indian national but resides in London, and when the UK hosted the 2012 Olympics ArcelorMittal funded a bizarre-looking metallic tower for the site of the Games.

= #151. Finn Rausing, Jorn Rausing, Kirsten Rausing – £10.06B each 

Age: 66, 61, 68

Industry: Packaging

These three Swedish siblings each have a net worth of £10billion, according to Forbes, by way of their position with packaging empire Tetra Lavel.

They all sit on the board and own a third each of the company. 

The company is the reincarnation of Tetra Pak, the inventor of aseptic ­packaging technology, which was founded by their grandfather.

Tetra Pak revolutionised packaging and made it possible to store shelf-life liquids like milk in cartons rather than bottles.

Finn, 66, lives in London, while Jorn, 61, lives in Surrey and Kirsten, 68, lives in Newmarket. 

#216 John Fredriksen – £7.53B 

Age: 76 

Industry: Shipping 

The shipping tycoon boasts a sprawling fleet that includes oil tankers, dry bulkers, LNG carriers and deepwater drilling rigs, according to Forbes.

He bought his first tankers in the 1970s and in the 1980s transported oil for Iran, where some of his vessels were struck by rockets.

Fredriksen renounced his Norwegian citizenship in favour of Cyprus, a well-known tax haven.

#224 German Khan –  £7.31B 

Age: 59 

Industry: Oil

Ukrainian-born Khan was one of the trio along with university friends Mikhail Fridman and Alexei Kuzmichev, who control Alfa Group and LetterOne.

He now lives in London, but in the 1980s wanted to move to Israel before Fridman convinced him to stay in Moscow to go into business. 

#234  Sir James Dyson – £7.02B 

Age: 73 

Industry: Vacuums

Sir James revolutionised cleaning in the late 1970s by inventing a vacuum this uses a cyclone to suck up dirt.

Today he employs more than 5,800 engineers worldwide, and was a vocal backer of Brexit. 

He now lives at Dodington Estate in Gloucestershire, a 300-acre Georgian estate, built in the early 19th century by James Wyatt, and recognised as being of ‘exceptional architectural and historic interest’.

Sir James revolutionised cleaning in the late 1970s by inventing a vacuum this uses a cyclone to suck up dirt

In his Prime! Bezos tops world’s wealthiest chart for FOURTH year as Forbes lists a record 2,775 global billionaires worth $13.1 TRILLION

Forbes’ annual world’s billionaires list includes a record-breaking 2,755 billionaires, with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos topping it for the fourth consecutive year, as the wealthiest saw huge gains in investments even as the global economy sagged during the coronavirus.

The number of billionaires on the list of the world’s richest people grew by 660 people in 2020, Forbes said – a record increase. 

WORLD’S RICHEST CITIES 

1. Beijing: 100 billionaires

2. New York City: 99 billionaires

3. Hong Kong: 80 billionaires

4. Moscow: 79 billionaires

5. Shenzen: 68 billionaires

6. Shanghai: 64 billionaires

7. London: 63 billionaires

8. (tie) Mumbai: 48 billionaires

8. (tie) San Francisco: 48 billionaires

10. Hangzhou: 47 billionaires  

And 86 percent of the people on the list are more wealthy than they were last year, Forbes said. 

The ranks of the ultra-wealthy are expanding after a year in which the coronavirus pandemic upended world economies and threatened the livelihoods of people across the globe.

At No. 1, Amazon’s Bezos clocked in at a staggering $177B, cementing his spot as the wealthiest billionaire on the list. 

Tesla founder Elon Musk zoomed into the No. 2 spot with $151 billion. Tesla stock is up more than 560 percent over the past year, helping put a motor under Musk’s worth.

For comparison, the median net worth in the U.S. is $121,411, according to Federal Reserve data. Median means half the country is worth more and half is worth less. 

Even the ‘top one percent’ that is oftentimes touted as the country’s elite had an average household net worth of just over $11 million in 2020 – a far cry from the billionaire’s list.

This year’s billionaires are worth a combined $13.1 trillion, up from $8 trillion last year, Forbes said. 

And the richest cities are tilting toward China, with five on the top 10 in the country, if counting Hong Kong, which comes in at No. 3. 

Beijing takes the top crown for city with the most billionaires, while New York comes in at No. 2 – just shy of the top with 99. 

Tech billionaires, meanwhile, increasingly dominate the list, Forbes says: They’re worth a combined $2.5 trillion on the list, up about 80 percent from the $1.4 trillion they logged in at last year. 

And 365 of the billionaires had fortunes made in technology, Forbes said – up from 241 last year.

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk jumped into second spot on the list with $155B, up from 31st last year. He’s pictured with his baby X Æ A-12, which he had with musician Grimes.

The tech industry is the second-biggest contributor to the list, coming just under finance and investments, which has 371. 

‘The very, very rich got very, very richer,’ said Forbes’ Chief Content Officer Randall Lane, in an interview with Reuters Video News. 

Of the 660 who were added to the list this year, 493 were brand new to the list. (Some had fallen off and re-gained their status.)

The increase of 493 brand new billionaires means one was minted roughly every 17 hours, according to Forbes calculations. 

The U.S. has the most people on the list, with 724. China has 698 when including Macao and Hong Kong.

Bernard Arnault, chief executive of luxury goods firm LVMH, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates were the next two wealthiest billionaires

Investor and business tycoon Warren Buffett fell out of the top five for the first time in over two decades, as tech executives dominate the Forbes rankings and as Mark Zuckerberg knocked him out for the fifth seat

Stock prices from March 5 were used to calculate net worth, Forbes said.   

Bernard Arnault, chief executive of luxury goods firm LVMH; Microsoft founder Bill Gates; and Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg round out the top five of the world’s richest billionaires.

Investor and business tycoon Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, fell out of the top five for the first time in over two decades, as tech executives dominate the Forbes rankings.

Top 10 wealthiest people on the Forbes billionaire list 

1. Jeff Bezos (U.S.) – $177Billion; Amazon founder and CEO 

2. Elon Musk (U.S.) – $151Billion; Tesla’s chief executive

3. Bernard Arnault (France) – $150Billion; chief executive of luxury goods firm LVMH

4. Bill Gates (U.S.) – $124Billion; Microsoft founder

5. Mark Zuckerberg (U.S.) – $97Billion; Facebook chief executive

6. Warren Buffett (U.S.) – $96Billion; Investor and business tycoon

7. Larry Ellison (U.S.) – $93Billion; Chairman, chief technology officer and cofounder of software giant Oracle

8. Larry Page (U.S.) – $91.5Billion; Co-founder of Google, controlling shareholder

9.  Sergey Brin (U.S.)  – $89Billion; Co-founder of Google, controlling shareholder

10. Mukesh Ambani (India)- $84.5Billion; Chairman, managing director of Reliance Industries, India’s most valuable company by market value 

Other notables included Michael Bloomberg, with $59 billion, at 20; and Nike’s Phil Knight, with $49.9 billion, at 25. Oprah and her $2.7billion secured the 1174 spot.

MacKenzie Scott, the Amazon CEO’s ex-wife, was 22 on the list with $53billion. 

There were only six women in the top 50 billionaires. 

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey came in at 173 with $12.5billion. 

Former President Donald Trump notably dropped almost 300 spots as he had an estimated worth of $2.4billion, putting him at spot 1,299. 

Last year, Trump came in at 1,001 on the list.

Of the top 50 billionaires, 24 of them are from the United States. Only 10 are from China. 

But while he has fallen lower on the list, the former president is still richer than he was when the pandemic started last year.

The rate at which his wealth grew was slower than that of others on the list. 

This year’s list has 493 newcomers, includes Whitney Wolfe Herd, chief executive of dating app Bumble, which went public this year. She came in at 2,263 with $1.3billion.

Kim Kardashian is 2674th on the list of Forbes Billionaires. Since October, her net worth has increased from $780million to $1billion, according to the magazine. 

Ex-husband Kanye West is also on the list – he is ahead of Kim, in 1750th place with a net worth of $1.8billion. 

Kylie Jenner is no longer on the list, after selling a 51 percent stake of her company in 2020. 

Last April, Kanye West was named a billionaire by Forbes – largely the most trustworthy media authority on who gets the name – after pleading with them for months to look at his financials.

He said they’d snubbed him repeatedly for years, leaving him off of the annual April list, because of his race.

He showed them financial records from his enormously successful sneaker and clothes line, Yeezy, which backed up his status.

It’s unclear how their respective fortunes will be divided in their divorce, but it is more than likely the pair signed a pre-nuptial agreement when they got married in 2014.  

This year’s list has 493 newcomers, including Kim Kardashian – who came in at 2674th on the list. Kanye West is also on the list – and the ex-husband is ahead of Kim, in 1750th place with a net worth of $1.8billion

Kim is the third person in her family to earn billionaire status. 

Kylie Jenner, her 23-year-old sister, was the first in 2018 when, aged 21, she was named the youngest self-made billionaire in history. 

New to the list is Miriam Adelson, widow of Sheldon Adelson who died earlier this year. The Trump supporter and CEO of Sands Entertainment appears to have left his wife his entire fortune. She clocks in at $38.2 billion – good for No. 36. 

Meanwhile, U.S. stocks are up more than 10 percent so far this year, so billionaires are likely – at least so far – to be racking up gains in the coming year, too – perhaps cementing even more into the rich list.   

Source: Read Full Article