Tech tycoon Sir James Dyson is now the richest person in South West England and the second-wealthiest in Britain, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List.
The 68-page special edition of The Sunday Times Magazine reveals the wealth of the 250 richest people in the UK in its 34th annual edition.
There are 177 billionaires recorded in the UK this year - up six from 2021 - a year-on-year increase that is also a record. The combined wealth of the UK billionaires is £653.122bn, an increase of 9.4 per cent on the total wealth of the billionaires in last year’s list.
The list is based on identifiable wealth, including land, property, other assets such as art and racehorses, or significant shares in publicly quoted companies. It excludes bank accounts.
With a family fortune of £23bn, up £6.7bn on 2021, inventor Sir James Dyson, 75, has become the second-richest person in the country, behind London-based brothers Sri and Gopi Hinduja and family, who are now worth a record £28.472bn.
Dyson Group, which is based in Malmesbury in Wiltshire, had a record year in 2021 with profits of £1.5bn on sales of more than £6bn, raising its value from £14.5bn to £21bn.
In March, the company announced plans to create more than 900 jobs in the UK after its “strong” financial performance. It also officially opened its new global headquarters in Singapore. Dyson will be based in the restored St James Power Station building on the island city-state.
Earlier this year, Dyson also announced its first wearable technology product - a set of air-purifying headphones. The company - known for its vacuum cleaners and fans - unveiled the Dyson Zone, which it says “simultaneously” tackle the issues of air quality and noise pollution in urban areas.
The richest people in the UK in 2022
Sri and Gopi Hinduja and family – £28.47bn
Sir James Dyson and family – £23bn
David and Simon Reuben and family – £22.26bn
Sir Leonard Blavatnik – £20bn
Guillaume Pousaz – £19.26bn
Lakshmi Mittal and family – £17bn
Christoph Henkel and family – £15bn
Guy, George, Alannah and Galen Weston and family – £13.5bn
Kirsten and Jorn Rausing – £12bn
Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken and Michel de Carvalho – £11.42bn
Michael Platt – £10bn
Alisher Usmanov – £10bn
The Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor family – £9.73bn
Barnaby and Merlin Swire and family – £9.6bn
Marit, Lisbet, Sigrid and Hans Rausing – £9.49bn
Anil Agarwal – £9.2bn
Denise, John and Peter Coates – £8.64bn
John Fredriksen and family – £8.31bn
Mikhail Fridman – £8.22bn
Moshe Kantor – £8bn
The Sunday Times Rich List is compiled by Robert Watts. The complete list is available to the paper’s digital subscribers on Friday, May 20, and is in the print edition of the newspaper on Sunday, May 22.
