An analysis has revealed that super-rich UK-linked families whose fortunes come from energy and food production have seen their wealth skyrocket since 2022, amid global crises that have driven up daily essentials costs. The research, commissioned by the antipoverty charity War on Want, found that households on the Sunday Times Rich List whose fortunes came primarily from energy saw their wealth increase by 20% between 2022 and 2026 – four times the list average. Households whose fortunes came primarily from food production enjoyed a wealth increase of 15%.
Energy and food tycoons lead the surge
The Perrodo clan, who run Perenco, one of Europe's largest privately held oil and gas companies, top a list of 15 super-rich UK-linked families who have seen their wealth soar from doing business in energy or food production. François Perrodo, a self-confessed petrolhead and 'gentleman driver' who races cars funded from his personal fortune, saw his family's wealth increase by about £3bn in the past four years. In June, he raced at Le Mans, earning a podium place, and at the end of August he won at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
The list also includes household names such as the Warburton family, who have increased their wealth by £185m as the cost of bread has risen, and Iceland supermarket founder Malcolm Walker, whose fortune grew by £106m. Top of the list for food is Ranjit Singh Boparan, the 'chicken king', who and his wife, whose companies are said to produce a third of all poultry products eaten in the UK, had tripled their wealth since 2022, taking it to over £2bn.
Crises fuel cost of living increases
The rises in energy and food prices, caused by climate shocks, wars and geopolitical tensions, have driven a multiyear cost of living crisis. Energy prices have fallen back from their peaks, but in August 2026 gas prices were 31% higher than in January 2020, while electricity prices were 17% higher. Petrol is more volatile, but is currently about twice as expensive as 2020. UK food prices rose by a total of 38.6% between November 2020 and November 2025.
Ben Tippet, an academic who researches wealth inequality at Kings College London, did the analysis based on his previous research categorising the sources of the wealth of households in the Rich List. He compiled a sub-list of 15 families who had made the most money from doing business in energy or food. In all cases, the analysis found, increases in wealth came alongside increases in profit margins at businesses they owned.
Controversies and environmental concerns
Perenco, which specialises in eking out the last drops from ageing oil wells, has been embroiled in a number of scandals. Four years ago, it sued the Peruvian government to try to block an Indigenous people's reserve. Three years ago, there was an oil spill in Dorset – an accident that earned it a £6m fine. And two years ago documents revealed it was failing to plug its old North Sea wells.
Perenco said it was a 'recognised expert in the optimisation of mature fields' and that it takes human rights and environmental law obligations 'very seriously'. It noted that it had withdrawn its claim against the Peruvian government after the country's ministry of culture determined there were uncontacted Indigenous people in the area. Regarding the Dorset oil spill, Perenco said 'very specific conditions in this pipeline' led to a spill of 200 barrels of reservoir fluid, which was about one-eighth crude oil and seven-eighths production fluid, including biocides. 'Perenco UK have made changes to their processes and conducted extensive checks to confirm that these conditions are not present elsewhere,' the company said. And it added that it is 'fully compliant with all relevant deadlines' for its North Sea wells 'and strongly refutes any suggestion that it is not fulfilling its decommissioning obligations, or is in any way putting the integrity of assets at risk'.
Boparan has committed to higher welfare and cuts to emissions at 2SFG's farms. But chicken factory farming nonetheless places a heavy load on the environment: farming is the UK's largest cause of river pollution, and chicken farms in particular have been accused of causing severe pollution in the rivers Wye and Severn. Boparan and 2SFG declined to comment. But the British Poultry Council insisted 'chicken farms are not harming rivers'.
Calls for wealth taxation
The research comes as Labour members and politicians meet in Liverpool for the party's annual conference with the cost of living crisis a priority for Andy Burnham's government. War on Want says that can only work if the government also takes steps to limit extreme wealth. It is calling for the government to establish £10m as the upper acceptable limit for wealth; to introduce an annual wealth tax on all assets over £10m; and to work with foreign governments to support extreme wealth taxation globally, including through the emerging UN Tax Convention.
'The super-rich are profiting from the food and energy industries that fuel both the climate and cost-of-living crises,' said Nuri Syed Corser, a campaigner at War on Want. 'Working-class people face soaring prices and worsening climate impacts – and the billionaires who own food and energy companies are profiting from this hardship. We need to tax the super-rich and use their extreme wealth to tackle the climate and cost-of-living crises.'
