The 2022 Sunday Times Rich List reveals that the wealthiest people in the UK have a combined fortune of £710 billion, an 8% increase from the previous year. This comes as ordinary Britons struggle with rising bills amid the cost of living crisis.
Billionaire brothers Sri and Gopi Hinduja top the list with a fortune of £28.47 billion, up by more than £11 billion from last year. They run the Mumbai-based Hinduja Group, a multinational conglomerate founded by their father, Parmanand Deepchand Hinduja, which has investments in trucking, banking, IT, and media.
In second place is Sir James Dyson, with a family wealth of £23 billion, followed by property investors David and Simon Reuben at £22.26 billion. Chancellor Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty appear on the list for the first time, ranked 222nd with a joint fortune of £730 million, largely driven by Murty's £690 million stake in Infosys.
Russian oligarchs, including Roman Abramovich, saw their wealth decline due to sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Abramovich's fortune halved from £12 billion to £6 billion, dropping him out of the top 20.
The list features a record 177 billionaires in the UK, six more than in 2021. Social media users have criticised Sunak's inclusion, with one saying: 'I find it wild that the Chancellor can be one of the wealthiest people in the UK during a cost of living crisis.'
