Sir David Beckham has become the UK’s first billionaire sportsman, and Oasis brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher have made it onto the annual Sunday Times Rich List of the UK’s 350 richest individuals and families for the first time.
lThe collective wealth of Sir David and his wife, Lady Beckham, is estimated at £1.2bn, while the Gallaghers are thought to be worth £375m.
Topping the list for the fifth consecutive year are Sanjay and Dheeraj Hinduja with a combined fortune of £38bn. The brothers run the Hinduja Group, with global interests in oil, gas, banking, and transport.
Who are the UK’s richest people?
1. Sanjay and Dheeraj Hinduja and family (£38bn)
2. David and Simon Reuben and family (£27.9bn)
3. Sir Leonard Blavatnik (£26.8bn)
4. Idan Ofer (£24.4bn)
5. Guy, George, Alannah and Galen Weston and family (£18.9bn)
6. Christopher Harborne (£18.1bn)
7. Nik Storonsky (£16.4bn)
8. Alex Gerko (£16bn)
9. Sir Jim Ratcliffe: (£15.1bn)
10. Igor and Dmitry Bukhman: (£14.2bn)
The Sunday Times Rich List calculates that there are now 157 UK billionaires, 20 less than four years ago.
King Charles’ estimated wealth has grown by £40m to £680m, pushing the monarch up to number 230 in the list.
This means he now surpasses former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty, who are also on the list with an estimated worth of £563m.
Sir David and Lady Beckham have doubled their wealth in the last 12 months, and he has become the UK’s first billionaire sportsman.
The biggest fallers this year include inventor Sir James Dyson – £12bn, down £8.8bn on last year – and Manchester United part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe – down from £17bn to £15.19bn.
Dyson’s fall in revenue can be partly blamed on US tariffs introduced by President Donald Trump, the Sunday Times said.
A new addition is Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis and her family, who hold an estimated fortune of £400m.
Speaking to the BBC last year, Eavis said: “As much as there is talk about our profit, which we do still need to have in order to recover and also to get land, we also try to give away as much money as we can, which is really, I think, at the heart of it.
“Imagine if we tried to sell it [the festival] out. It would be awful. It would be the end. I’d rather literally die before that happens. I mean, it just can’t happen.”
Among the new entrants to the list is entrepreneur Christopher Harborne who now features in sixth place.
The British billionaire has broken records for his political donations to Reform UK, and was thrust into the spotlight in recent weeks over his £5m gift to Nigel Farage in 2024.
Sir Elton John, Lord Lloyd-Webber, Sir Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, JK Rowling, Charlotte Tilbury, Sir Brian May and Sir Lewis Hamilton are among well-known names who appear in the annual survey.
The Sunday Times reports that at least 15 foreign nationals who appeared in last year’s list have been removed because they now live elsewhere, while nearly a third of the UK citizens featured no longer live on the British mainland.
Robert Watts, who compiles the list, said this year’s Rich List is “a tale of two exoduses”.
He said: “One in six of the individuals and families who appeared on the list two years ago don’t feature this time.
“Many foreign billionaires who have been living in the UK have also dropped out because they have moved away.
“We have also seen a sharp rise in the number of British nationals now resident in Dubai, Switzerland and Monaco. As UK nationals these people remain on our Rich List – wherever they now live.”
The list is based on identifiable wealth, including land, property and other assets such as art, racehorses, or significant shares in publicly quotes companies.
It does not include bank accounts, which the paper has no access to.
Meanwhile, boxer Tyson Fury is among the debutants in the paper’s 40 under 40 Rich List.
Thirty-four of the entrants to that particular list have self-made fortunes – and nearly a third are linked to London-based AI start-ups.
Topping it is the Duke and Duchess of Westminster with an estimated £9.7bn fortune, while Gymshark founder Ben Francis came in fifth worth an estimated £800m. He dropped out of university to focus on his sportswear brand Gymshark.
