Britain’s so-called “migrant hotel king” has entered the UK rich list for the first time, in a year in which the number of billionaires fell but the prime minister and monarch both saw their vast fortunes increase, new data reveals.
Asylum tycoon Graham King is currently pocketing £3.5m of taxpayer money a day for his role in helping to transport and house vulnerable migrants amid the ongoing crisis – making him the 221st richest person in the UK.
He is estimated to have amassed a £750m fortune from “holiday parks, inheritance, and housing asylum seekers for the government”.
With Mr King’s contract with the Home Office running until 2029, he is expected to become the first man to become a billionaire off the back of increased migration to the UK.
On the subject of kings, King Charles’s fortune has also increased by £10m in the last year to £610m, the Sunday Times Rich List reveals.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty have also seen their personal fortune surge by £150m to £651m.
Britain’s “richest gypsy” Alfie Best has seen an even bigger increase in his fortune, amassed from the creation of caravan parks in the face of the UK’s housing crisis.
He is now very nearly a billionaire after his net worth increased by £202m to £947m.
However, despite having such immense wealth, Best recently chose to leave the UK just last month for tax purposes.
He criticised Mr Sunak on his departure, admitting that he thought the Conservative prime minister would have had his financial interests at heart. “I thought Rishi Sunak would be like a second Jesus for our country – encouraging the wealth creators,” he said. “There was someone who understood business and was married into a wealthy family. How wrong I was.”
Best has now relocated to Monaco, where he is awaiting entry to a so-called millionaire’s playground where residents enjoy a tax-free existence.
In terms of celebrities on the list, the Beckhams have also featured, with the new data revealing that their fortune has increased by £30m to £455m.
The updated Sunday Times rich list did, however, reveal that there has been a slight drop in the number of British billionaires, from 177 in 2022 to 165 in 2024.
The list features the 350 wealthiest people in the UK.
Those set to become billionaires in the near future include author JK Rowling, who previously lost that status after giving away so much of her fortune to charity.
According to the 2024 rich list, she is currently worth £945m – an increase of £70m in the past year.
Paul McCartney, meanwhile, is now the UK’s first ever billionaire musician, according to the list, with a net worth of £1bn, up from £865m in 2022.
His increase in wealth is in part credited to his 2023 Got Back tour as well as to Beyoncé’s cover version of “Blackbird” from the Beatles’ “white album”.
The UK’s wealthiest man is now businessman Gopi Hinduja, who is worth a staggering £37.2bn – the largest fortune ever featured on the list.
He made it to the top spot after adding an additional £2bn to his fortune.
Another notable fortune is that of investor Leonard Blavatnik, who owns a majority stake in Warner Music, thought to account for his £29.25bn fortune.
The sum was previously £28.63bn, but increased with the price of shares in the music group, which have gone up by 20 per cent.
