London, Thanasis Gavos

It is intense this year as well the presence of Greeks and Cypriots in the Rich List of its inhabitants United Kingdom published by Sunday Times.

In this year’s Rich List with 350 names in total, first Greek name is Cypriot Alkis David and the Leventis family (Coca-Cola HBC and media) in position 63, with an estimated fortune of almost £2.8 billion.

The Cypriot Lazaris family (property) ranks 72nd with a fortune of 2.5 billion pounds.

Manchester’s Cypriot businessman John Christodoulou (property) is in 74th place with £2.45 billion, while Greek raw materials tycoon (Glencore) Telis Mistakidis comes in 75th place with £2.42 billion.

They have overtaken Virgin Group’s Sir Richard Branson on the list who has slipped to 77th place with £2.4bn.

Greek-born investor Chris Rokos (Rokos Capital) ranks 86th with an estimated fortune of 2 billion pounds.

In position 101 is Sir Stelios Hatziioannou (easyJet) with 1.7 billion sterling and in position 251 the Logothetis family (shipping, real estate, aviation, Libra Group).

In position 286 is the Zohonis family of the soap empire (PS Cussons) from Manchester, originally from Laconia.

It is noted that in position 19 is the Norwegian shipbuilder John Fredriksen with 8.3 billion pounds, who has received Cypriot citizenship.

This year’s Sunday Times Rich List includes 171 billionaires, six fewer than last year. But their wealth is increased compared to 2022, reaching a total of £684 billion.

It is noted, however, that in a year of high inflation the 4.5% increase in the wealth of the wealthiest residents of the UK constitutes a reduction in real terms.

At the top again is Indian-born Gopi Hinduja, an industrial, property, restaurant and finance tycoon with a fortune of £35 billion. His elder brother Sri, with whom he shared the property, died last week aged 87.

He is followed in second place by “the baron of the chemical industry” Sir Jim Radcliffe, who has expressed an interest in buying Manchester United. With an estimated fortune of £29.7bn it is the biggest riser on the list in the last 12 months.

Third is Odessa-born British-American Sir Leonard Blavatnik with £28.6 billion, controlling, among others, Warner Music Group and streaming services Deezer and DAZN.

Rounding out the top ten are David and Simon Reuben from India (£24.4 billion – metals, real estate, part ownership of Newcastle), Sir James Dyson (£23 billion – technology inventor), Lakshmi Mittal (£16bn – world’s biggest steelmaker with ArcelorMittal), the Weston family (£14.5bn – retail, Primark, Ryvita), Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken (£13.1bn – heir to the well-known brewery), siblings Kirsten and Jorn Rausing (£12bn – packaging company Tetra Laval) and Michael Platt (£11.5bn – investment firm BlueCrest Capital).

The list also includes King Charles and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

In the case of the monarch, his fortune is estimated at 600 million pounds, ranking him in 263rd place. He is richer than his mother Queen Elizabeth, mainly due to the properties and investments of the duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster, which belong to the monarch.

Mr Sunak remains the only politician on the list, thanks to his own wealth and that of his wife, a shareholder and heir to the Indian information technology giant Infosys founded by her father.

The company’s share value has fallen by 25% on last year, meaning the prime minister’s fortunes have fallen by £201 million, or more than £500,000 a day.

Mr Sunak is now ranked 275th with a family fortune estimated at £529m.