The first half of 2021 raised more billionaires in the UK than any other year in the country’s history.
Sunday Times’s Rich List identified a record 171 UK billionaires for 2021, and this is 24 more than in 2020. The billionaires’ combined net worth in this list grew by nearly 22 per cent to more than £597 billion. With 171 billionaires count, Britain is fourth in the world list after the US, China and India, well ahead of Germany.
A global pandemic created lots of opportunities for online game developers, fashion retailers, and many technology businesses, as well as delivery services that made our lives a lot easier. Growing online demand supported the rise of unicorns: startups worth at least $1 billion.
Figures published in late April by the research house Statista suggested 27 UK businesses classified as unicorns – compared with 15 in Germany, 8 in France and 4 in Japan. Thus the UK ranked fourth globally, after the United States with 288, China with 133 and India with 32.
The founders of FarFetch, Ovo Energy, Cazoo, Arrival, Hopin, Babylon Health and checkout.com have all made it to the top of the list after securing a 10-figure valuation for their ventures.
Riders of the elder unicorns Gymshark, Revolut and THG, have also seen their fortunes fly high over the past 12 months.
The highest utterly new entry to this year’s Rich List is Denis Sverdlov. He managed to amass a fortune of more than £6 billion due to the biggest float of a British technology company. Arrival is electric van business, and it is valued at £8.1 billion. The first van will touch the road in 2022, and it got very positive reviews at Geneva International Motor Show.
Ovo Energy accepted an investment from Mitsubishi, which immediately delivered a £1 billion valuation for the renewable energy specialist business. Now the founder, Stephen Fitzpatrick, is looking at further fundraising, valuing the company between £2 billion and £3 billion.
Research conducted by NimbleFins company incorporated metrics from the World Bank, World Economic Forum, OECD and UNESCO to get a data-driven picture of how countries compare to factors that can impact a startup. The integrated metrics allowed to assess and compare business climate, labour quality, cost of doing business and economic health in 50 countries. According to the results of the study, the UK is the second-best in Europe for startups. And it is the first to deliver billionaires.
What about the traditional high-nets?
The UK Top 10 Richest Persons
| Rank 2021 (2020) | Name | Net wealth 2021 | Rise |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (4) | Sir Leonard Blavatnik | £23bn | ↑ £7.219bn |
| 2 (2=) | David and Simon Reuben | £21.465bn | ↑ £5.465bn |
| 3 (2=) | Sri and Gopi Hinduja and family | £17bn | ↑ £1bn |
| 4 (1) | Sir James Dyson and family | £16.3bn | ↑ £100m |
| 5 (19) | Lakshmi Mittal and family | £14.68bn | ↑ £7.899bn |
| 6 (7) | Alisher Usmanov | £13.406bn | ↑ £1.726bn |
| 7 (6) | Kirsten and Jorn Rausing | £13bn | ↑ £900m |
| 8 (12) | Roman Abramovich | £12.101bn | ↑ £1.945bn |
| 9 (9) | Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken and Michel de Carvalho | £12.013bn | ↑ £1.713bn |
| 10 (8) | Guy, George, Alannah and Galen Weston and family | £11bn | ↑ £470m |
Source: The Sunday Times Rich List
ORACLE CAPITAL GROUP has reliable partner relations with numerous banks, funds and other financial institutions of Great Britain, Europe and other regions. Our unique position allows us to find and negotiate the most favourable financing terms and make your business plan come true in the UK. We also offer a complete relocation solution for startup founders.
