Steel tycoons on top : Mittal’s fortune falls but still Britain’s biggest

Foreign born billionaires top three richest in the UK.


Afp May 08, 2011

LONDON:


Indian-born steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal saw about £5 billion wiped off his fortune in the past year but remains the wealthiest person in Britain, it was revealed Sunday.


The fortune of the London-based head of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel maker, fell by around 22 per cent to £17.5 billion in the past 12 months, according to an annual rich list compiled by The Sunday Times newspaper.

The huge drop in the 60-year-old’s wealth was driven by a fall in the share price of ArcelorMittal as the global steel industry struggled to cope with costly raw materials and slow demand.

He was the biggest faller on this year’s list -- but remains in first place for the seventh consecutive year and is more than £5 billion ahead of the second-placed Alisher Usmanov, a fellow steel magnate.

The fortunes of Mittal, who is chairman and chief executive of ArcelorMittal, were markedly different from the rest of Britain’s super rich.

The 1,000 richest people saw their wealth continue to bounce back from the recession and increase by 18 percent to a collective fortune of £395.8 billion.

The number of billionaires in Britain now stands at 73 -- up from 53 last year and almost matching the record of 75 set in the list of 2008 before the financial crisis. Forty of the billionaires are British-born.

Russian businessman Usmanov moved from sixth position up the list to get the second spot after adding £7.7 billion to his fortune, which is now worth £12.4 billion.

Usmanov owns a large stake in Russian iron and steel firm Metalloinvest and recently courted controversy in Britain by trying to build up a controlling stake in English football giants Arsenal.

But his bid was thwarted last month when US sports tycoon Stan Kroenke took control of the Premier League side. Usmanov’s holding company still owns a significant stake in Arsenal.

The highest new female entry is Chinese businesswoman Xiuli Hawken, 48, who made her fortune converting underground military shelters in China into underground shopping malls. She lives in London.

Another new female entry is Mary Perkins, who founded the value-for-money chain of glasses shops, Specsavers, with her husband Douglas.

Their wealth has increased 42 percent since last year and stands at £1.15 billion.

The list is based on identifiable wealth such as land, property or significant shares in publicly quoted companies, and excludes bank accounts.

Britain’s top 10 billionaires in The Sunday Times Rich List 2011

1. Lakshmi Mittal -- steel -- 17.514 billion (1st)

2. Alisher Usmanov -- steel -- 12.4 billion (6th)

3. Roman Abramovich -- oil, industry -- 10.3 billion (2nd)

4. The Duke of Westminster -- property -- 7 billion (3rd)

5. Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli -- pharmaceuticals -- 6.87 billion (4th)

6. Leonard Blavatnik  -- industry -- 6.237 billion (15th)

7. John Fredriksen and family -- shipping -- 6.2 billion (16th)

8. David and Simon Reuben -- property, Internet -- 6.176 billion (5th)

9. Gopi and Sri Hinduja -- industry, finance -- 6 billion (new)

9. Galen and George Weston -- retailing -- 6 billion (7th)

(last year’s rank in brackets, figures in pounds)

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2011.

COMMENTS (4)

ameer | 12 years ago | Reply These hindus business men are real acumen! As a sindhi from western side,i am happy to see 9 sindhi indians in the list Mittal was hardly a millionaire in india,he became world 2nd richest person in 2008!! Once steel prices come up again,he will rise up to top of the list!! Similarly indian sindhi community are very prosperous!! I sincerly feel that ,division of india was blunder by our ancestors!!We sindhis would not have supported pakistan...!!We were more close to indians who are soft,polite and tolerant!! We spoiled our future!!i know its too late and i doubt we will be able to create industry if we keep playing double games in afganistan,work for america,channel terror networks of world!!
Shaharyar | 12 years ago | Reply They have declared white money while billion is nothing for ours who can purchase a penthouse in £146 million in Hide Park 1
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