Exodus of wealth from UK but Gallaghers roll with it – Daily Business

Noel Gallagher and his brother Liam are worth £375m

An exodus of wealthy individuals and families from the UK because of punitive taxes is a key finding in the latest edition of The Sunday Times Rich List.

The minimum entry level has dipped to £340 million – an indicator of a subdued year in which numerous foreign billionaires fled the UK and no longer appear in the ranking.

However, foreigners also account for the year’s two biggest risers, both born in Moscow.

Nik Storonksy, co-founder of payments firm Revolut, has seen his wealth climb to £16.411 billion – with average gains of £25.8 million a day since last year’s Rich List. The rise is explained by a fundraising valuing the London-based business at £55.6bn. 

Alex Gerko, the mathematician who set up trading platform XTX, has a fortune now estimated at £16bn. The increase in his wealth since the 2025 edition equates to  average daily gains of £19.9m over the past 12 months. 

Danish landowner and retailer Anders Holch Povlsen retains top spot on Scotland’s wealthiest list with an £8.3bn fortune. He owns the Shetland rocket launchpad, the retailer Bestseller and the building in Princes Street, Edinburgh, that formerly housed Jenners.

Others on the Scottish list worth more than a billion include Sir Ian Wood and his family; Glenn Gordon and his family, heirs to the William Grant whisky empire; Lady Philomena Clark, the widow of the car-seller Sir Arnold Clark; the bus company owners Sandy and James Easdale; and the Thomson family, publishers of titles including The Press & Journal, The Courier and The Beano. A new entrant to the Scottish list is Dunfermline-born entrepreneur Paul Hamilton.

Just below the billionaire threshold is the Harry Potter author JK Rowling. As in previous years there is no mention of Doug Barrowman and Lady Michelle Mone (see full list below).

Oasis stars Noel and Liam Gallagher are among those making their debut following their 41-venue tour which earned almost £400m at the box office for the brothers who share a £375m fortune.

Sir David and Victoria Beckham, the Labour donor Gary Lubner and the sports promoters Barry and Eddie Hearn all join Britain’s billionaire club for the first time. 

David Beckham becomes the UK’s first billionaire sportsman owing to his stake in Inter Miami and an extensive property empire adjoining the US football club’s stadium. The value of Lady Victoria’s fashion label has also risen. The Beckhams’ wealth is estimated at £1.185bn.

Christopher Harborne, the Thailand-based billionaire who has given at least £12 million to Nigel Farage and the Reform Party, makes his debut at No 6 with estimated wealth of £18bn. 

Among this year’s wealthiest under 40s is Scottish tennis star Sir Andy Murray. He is joint 36th with a £110m fortune.

Investors Sanjay and Dheeraj Hinduja and their family are the richest people in the UK with a fortune of £38bn, up from £35.3bn last year.

One of the biggest fallers is Sir Jim Ratcliffe whose sprawling petrochemicals empire Ineos, spans 27 countries. As a result of rising debt, falling revenues and a £515.7m loss, the value of the business has declined to £17bn. Ratcliffe’s 29% stake in Manchester United is worth £1.4bn.

Another notable faller is Sir James Dyson who drops out of the top 10 after seeing his wealth down by £8.8bn to £12bn.

The Royal Family’s wealth has been in the spotlight and the list puts the King‘s fortune at £680m.

Faller: Sir Jim Ratcliffe

This year’s list reveals that the 350 individuals and families listed have combined wealth of £783.5 billion — a sum larger than the annual GDP of Belgium, Sweden and Israel. It represents about a quarter of the UK’s total annual GDP.

However, the list reveals how wealthy people are willing to relocate to preserve their tax status.

Compiler Robert Watts said: “This year’s Rich List is a tale of two exoduses. 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 drop out because they have moved away.

“We have also seen a strong 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.” 

Revolut banker Nik Storonsky made £25.8m a day

“These two exoduses pose challenges for the UK economy and its public finances. Will more of the wealthy now set up or grow their ventures overseas and in doing so create fewer jobs here? How much tax – if any – will Rachel Reeves’s Treasury be able to extract from those affluent Brits who have now left the country?”

Nearly a third (111) of the UK citizens who appear in the main list of 350 individuals no longer live on the British mainland. At least 15 foreign nationals who appeared in last year’s Rich List have been removed because they now live elsewhere. 

Warren Stephens, the US president’s ambassador in London, is the only billionaire from overseas found to have moved to the UK over the past year.

Watts said that understanding where wealth lies and where it is being accumulated is a vital part of a functioning democracy. 

“Over the years our research has told us a lot about our country, charting the way a generation of largely self-made entrepreneurs overtook the old money of the landed gentry. 

“This year’s edition shines a light on fortunes made from artificial intelligence, driverless cars and crypto-currencies as well as baby milk, make-up, hoodies and other everyday items.

“We know many of our readers find those rags-to-riches stories of entrepreneurs who started out with little more than a laptop and an idea particularly inspiring.”

Scotland’s wealthiest

There are few changes to Scotland’s wealthiest people which again includes a smattering of foreigners living north of the border and a newcomer who has a big stake in a software business in England.

Danish landowner and retailer Anders Holch Povlsen retains top spot with an £8.3bn fortune. He owns the Shetland rocket launchpad, the retailer Bestseller and the building in Princes Street, Edinburgh, that formerly housed Jenners, now being converted to a hotel and a revamped department store.

A new entrant to the Scottish list is Dunfermline-born Paul Hamilton who set up Halo, a Suffolk-based developer of software used by the Ministry of Justice, Microsoft, Red Bull and the University of Cambridge.

THE SUNDAY TIMES RICH LIST 2026 – THE 20 WEALTHIEST UK BILLIONAIRES

Rise in wealth ▲ Fall in wealth ▼ No change ■  New entry ★ Re-entry ◆ 

2026Rank NameEstimated wealth 2026Source of WealthRise/FallEstimated wealth 20251Sanjay and Dheeraj Hinduja and family£38bnInvestors▲£35.304bn2David and Simon Reuben and family£27.971bnLandlords▲£26.873bn3Sir Leonard Blavatnik£26.852bnInvestor and philanthropist▲£25.725bn4Idan Ofer£24.481bnShipping tycoon▲£20.121bn5Guy, George, Alannah and Galen Weston and family£18.939bnHeirs and retailers▲£17.746bn6Christopher Harborne£18.177bnEntrepreneur★New7Nik Storonsky£16.411bnPayments pioneer▲£6.978bn8Alex Gerko£16.006bnFinancial trader▲£8.745bn

THE SUNDAY TIMES RICH LIST 2026 – THE 10 WEALTHIEST IN SCOTLAND 

Rise in wealth ▲ Fall in wealth ▼ No change ■  New entry ★ Re-entry ◆

2026Rank NameEstimated wealth 2026Source of WealthRise/FallEstimated wealth 20251Anders Holch Povlsen£8.287bn Retailer ▲ £7.704bn 2Glenn Gordon and family£4.745bn Whisky dynasty ▼ £6.398bn 3Sir Ian Wood and family£1.876bn Industrialist ▼ £1.914bn 4Lady (Philomena) Clark and family£1.733bn Heiress ▲ £1.656bn 5Sandy and James Easdale£1.47bn Bus barons ▲ £1.46bn 6Christopher Thomson and family£1.384bn Media dynasty ▼ £1.446bn 7Paul Hamilton£1.081bnSoftware★NEW ENTRY8JK Rowling£975m Writer ▲ £945m 9Sir Brian Souter and Dame Ann Gloag£878m Bus barons ▲ £805m 10Lord Laidlaw £725m Entrepreneur ▼ £730m 

https://www.thetimes.com/sunday-times-rich-list 

#Exodus #wealth #Gallaghers #roll #Daily #Business