Inventor and industrial designer Sir James Dyson has topped the Sunday Times Rich List for the first time as his wealth soared by £3.6bn in the past year to £16.2bn.
The Brexit-backing entrepreneur, who has toppled the Indian-born businessmen Gopichand and Srichand Hinduja to head the annual list, made his fortune with the invention of the bagless vacuum cleaner, which went on sale in 1993.
The report also reveals that Britain’s super-rich have lost more than £54bn in the past two months of the coronavirus pandemic. The combined wealth of the UK’s 1,000 richest people has fallen for the first time since the the 2008 financial crash, with some sustaining losses of up to £6bn since last year.
Research by the Sunday Times also shows that at least 63 people on the list – including 20 billionaires – have sought to furlough their staff under the government’s taxpayer-backed scheme.
They include the Hinduja brothers, who have furloughed about 360 employees at Optare, their North Yorkshire-based bus manufacturing firm. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who topped the rankings in 2018, co-owns the Pig hotel chain, which has furloughed most of its staff.
The first detailed analysis of the finances of the super-rich since the outbreak of coronavirus will reinforce beliefs that the UK is entering a deep recession.
However, despite the economic damage wrought by the pandemic, Dyson was propelled into first place. His ambition of building a seven-seat electric SUV vehicle with a 600-mile range was thwarted when the project became financially unviable, and its cancellation is understood to have cost £500m.
The 73-year-old businessman recently paid £70m for two properties in Singapore, where he had controversially moved his corporate headquarters. He owns 36,500 acres of land – more than the Queen.
A spokesman said Dyson – which employs 15,000 staff worldwide – had not furloughed any of its 5,000 employees in the UK.
This year’s list identifies combined wealth of £743bn, £29bn less than the total shared by last year’s 1,000 entries. The number of billionaires is down by four to 147, although London remains the world’s billionaire capital, as 89 individuals were either born, are currently living in, or hold a significant chunk of their assets there.
A record 25 female billionaires make the list, including Kirsten Rausing of the Swedish family behind TetraPak, who tops the list with a £12.1bn fortune.
Sectors hit badly by the virus include heavy industry, aviation and retail. Among those suffering the biggest falls in their wealth are steel baron Lakshmi Mittal, the Hinduja brothers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Their valuations have sunk by between £3.9bn and £6bn.
List compiler Robert Watts said: “Ever since the financial crisis of 2008-09, Britain’s wealthiest people have become richer and richer. Covid-19 has called time on their golden period. This year’s rich list paints a picture of Britain on the brink of calamity – two months after lockdown and already billions of pounds have been wiped out.”
