Have you ever wondered who the richest people in the UK are? Sure, when you think of millionaires and billionaires, you might think of actors and athletes. But, when it comes to even greater wealth, look to the entrepreneurs.
Some of UK’s biggest earners are heads of companies and innovators who took a chance in the market. While some on this list inherited a part of their wealth, many forged their own paths. Click through the slides to see the richest entrepreneurs and investors in the United Kingdom.
Simon Cowell
Venture: The X Factor
Net worth: 325 million GBP
Country: England
Pretty much everyone knows who Simon Cowell is, and no list of the richest people in the UK would be complete without him. Simon was born in London in 1959. He attended Windsor Tech for an education, and briefly worked on the movie set of the Shining. He was an A&R Consultant with BMG, a record label.
His biggest success started in 2001 when he was appointed as a judge on Pop Idol. He left the American Idol version of the show and started the X Factor. He started the X Factor through Syco TV, which was his production company.
J.K. Rowling
Venture: Author (Harry Potter)
Net worth: 1B GBP
Country: England
J.K. Rowling is the famous author of the Harry Potter series, a collection of books and films based around Rowling’s brainchild, Harry Potter. She began writing the first HP novel on a train in 1990. She released the first book in 1997.
The period from 1990 to 1997 was hard for her. Her mother passed away, she divorced her husband, and she was living in poverty with her first child. The first HP novel took off. She wrote six more, as well as a line of books geared towards adults. She was the first author to make 1 billion pounds.
Laurence Graff
Venture: Graff Diamonds
Net worth: 5.6B USD
Country: England
Laurence Graff founded Graff Diamonds. He is half Romanian and half Russian, but he was born in 1938 in Stepney. Graff dropped out of school at 15 and became a jeweller’s apprentice. He then sold designs independently across England.
He started two independent shops. He founded his own company in 1966, and gained recognition when one of his designers won the De Beers Diamond Award. The company grew and grew. Graff Diamonds does a lot of work not just in the UK, but in the Middle East, creating diamonds for wealthy Arab families.
Philip Green
Venture: Arcadia Group
Net worth: 4.9B USD
Country: England
Philip Green chairs the Arcadia Group. The Arcadia Group is a major retail conglomerate. Arcadia houses Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Topman, Wallis, and several other brands. Successful though Green has been in business, there are many controversies. The demise of the brand BHS is a major one.
BHS came under scrutiny after it was drowning in debt yet still paying out half a billion in dividends to Green’s family. Green was nearly stripped of his knighthood because of this. So far, he has not lost his knighthood, but that could change pending new information.
David and Simon Reuben
Venture: Trans-World Metals
Net worth: 14.4B USD
Country: England
David and Simon Reuben are ranked as the world’s sixtieth-wealthiest people. Though both were born in India, their nationality is English. Simon’s first business venture was in carpets. David worked in the scrap metal industry. Simon never finished formal education, choosing to work in business instead.
After the brothers invested in the metals market in Russia, their aluminium business took off. Their company controlled up to seven per cent of the global aluminium output. Now, the Reubens are expanding their business into Indonesia, South Africa, and Morocco.
Jim Ratcliffe
Venture: Ineos
Net worth: 10B USD
Country: England
Jim Ratcliffe is the billionaire founder of Ineos, the chemical-maker and mega-conglomerate. He founded Ineos in 1998, and the company reports a turnover of around 80 billion pounds. Ratcliffe still owns the majority of the shares in Ineos. Ratcliffe’s alma mater is the University of Birmingham. His degree was in chemical engineering.
Recently, he donated 25 million pounds to the school. He worked with the oil company Esso before getting an MBA in business from London Business School. He then founded Inspec, the parent company of Ineos. After Inspec, he started Ineos as a subsidiary.
Peter Jones
Venture: Dragons’ Den
Net worth: 435M GBP
Country: England
While Peter Jones might be a name familiar with those in the media, he also has business interests in real estate, retail, tech, and more industries. Peter Jones was born in South Buckinghamshire. He is an original investor in the show Dragons’ Den, which is popular on BBC Two.
Jones is also a Commander of the British Empire. His other business interests include Siemen Nixdorf, Phones International, and Peter Jones Enterprise Academy. He also recently became the owner of the UK’s Jessops, a photo retail business.
Sir James Dyson
Venture: Dyson Company
Net worth: 5.2B USD
Country: England
Sir James Dyson is an inventor and engineer. He was born in Cromer, England. Dyson first studied at the Byam Shaw School of Art before studying design and then engineering. Dyson’s first invention was the Ballbarrow. The Ballbarrow was basically a wheelbarrow with a ball instead of a wheel. He then invented Trolleyball and the Wheelboat.
His first profitable invention was a vacuum cleaner using cyclonic separation. It won a prize at a Japanese invention contest, but major manufacturers rejected it. So, Dyson formed his own company and opened a factory to sell his own inventions.
Lady Amelia Windsor
Venture: Model (Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana)
Net worth: 775K+ GBP/year
Country: England
Lady Amelia Windsor is the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Katharine, Duchess of Kent. That’s right, she’s a member of the prestigious British Royal Family. Though she is quite far down in line for the throne, this young royal is famous thanks not only to her royal blood, but also for her looks.
At the age of 23, Lady Amelia is already a successful runway model. She’s strutted the runway for some of fashion’s biggest brands, including Dolce & Gabbana. Just last year, she released a line of shoes in collaboration with Penelope Chilvers. Twenty percent of those proceeds were donated to War Child, a charity that aids children in conflict areas. She does work for brands like Chanel, Azzedine Alaia, and BVLGARI.
Richard Branson
Venture: The Virgin Group
Net worth: 4.9B USD
Country: England
Richard Branson is another name synonymous with wealth. He got into entrepreneurship at 16 when he started the magazine Student. Branson then opened Virgin Records, which was a record store chain. The brand continued to make more profit and grow. Virgin then became a record label, and then an airline.
Branson’s Virgin Group also encompasses Virgin Galactic. This company is looking into space tourism. The spaceflight corporation has been in business since 2004. Branson won a knighthood from the Buckingham Palace as a result of his entrepreneurship.
Ann Gloag
Venture: Stagecoach Group (LON:SGC)
Net worth: 1.04B GBP
Country: Scotland
Ann Gloag, before founding the transport company Stagecoach, trained as a nurse. She worked twenty years in a burn unit. She then took her career to a very different track. She founded Stagecoach. Initially, the company just ran a bus from Dundee to London.
She used money from her father, husband, and brother to invest in the startup. Stagecoach expanded. Stagecoach bought out National Bus Company. Gloag also owns Kent International Airport. She purchased KIA for just one pound. Gloag shut down KIA. The future of the airport’s land is still being explored.
Alan Sugar
Venture: The Apprentice
Net worth: 1.15B GBP
Country: England
Alan Sugar is also often called “Baron Sugar.” He was born in London. His first job was at a greengrocer’s before he became a statistician for the government. His first stint as an entrepreneur was when he sold radios out of his car. He spent his last one-hundred-pounds on the venture.
He took an even greater risk when he founded Amstrad Trading. Amstrad listed on the LSE in 1980. Sugar also chaired the Tottenham Spurs Football Club. He now appears on The Apprentice, a popular TV show about entrepreneurs. He has appeared on that show since 2005.
Sir David & Sir Frederick Barclay
Venture: Shop Direct Group
Net worth: 7.2B GBP
Country: England
Sir David Barclay and Sir Frederick Barclay are twin brothers, hence why they are often called “The Barclay Twins.” The Barclay Twins are identical billionaire twin brothers who invest in property, media, and retail. They were born in London, just ten minutes apart. The brothers first worked at GE before becoming decorators and painters.
They ran the company Candy Corner, a tobacco and candy shop, before it closed down. They formed Barclay Brothers, a building and decorating business that took off. The majority of the twins’ fortune came from investments in breweries, casinos, and other companies.
Ruth Parasol
Venture: PartyGaming
Net worth: 720M GBP
Country: England
Ruth Parasol was born in the States in California, but she now resides in Gibraltar. Parasol is a lawyer, having graduated from Western State. She took her career in a different track when she founded a gaming company in 1997.
The company, Starluck Casino Online, operated in the Caribbean. She then expanded the company to include a partner, renaming it PartyGaming Plc. PartyGaming was listed on the FTSE 100 List only briefly. The company took a blow when the States passed anti-gambling legislation, causing PartyGaming to lose 60% of its business.
Andy Currie
Venture: Ineos
Net worth: 3.4B USD
Country: England
Andy Currie graduated from Cambridge University. His degree was in natural sciences. He started a job at BP (LON:BP) Chemicals, working for fifteen years in technical and managerial positions. Currie then moved up the ladder to become a director of Inspec Group. Inspec Group is the parent company of Currie’s current venture, Ineos.
James Ratcliffe, who also appears on this list, founded Ineos. Andy Currie is the director of Ineos. Ineos produces adhesives, agro-fuels, and many other types of chemicals. The company is also exploring the U.K. for shale, which is a large source of revenue.
Karren Brady
Venture: West Ham United
Net worth: 85M GBP
Country: England
Under the former UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Karren Brady served as Small Business Ambassador. Brady was the manager of Birmingham City Football Club. She is now the vice-chairman of the football club West Ham United.
She grew up in London next to a football ground, and that sparked her love of the game. Karren Brady battled against sexism to achieve her fortune in the business world. After a player made a sexist remark about her body, Brady sold him to a different team.
Navin Engineer
Venture: Chemidex
Net worth: 1.1B GBP
Country: England
Navin Engineer, whose real name is Navinchandra Jamnadas Engineer, was born in 1951. He founded the chemical company Chemidex with his wife, Varsha, in 1981. Navin’s father worked in the Kenyan civil service. Navin’s first job was at the Boots the Chemist pharmacy chain. He quit the day that a manager asked him to get her a cup of tea.
Navin, a pharmacist, was shocked at the disrespect and walked out. His own company opened its first pharmacy in Surrey. It expanded to fourteen pharmacies. The company was bought by Celesio. It received its first pharma brand in 2000.
Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken
Venture: Heineken International
Net worth: 13.8B USD
Country: England
You may recognise the last name from the popular beer brand, Heineken. You would be correct, as Charlene owns a quarter stake in Heineken International. Though she was born in the Netherlands, her nationality is English.
She resides in London with her husband and five children. Heineken is the director of the Heineken company. Her husband, Michael de Carvalho, is also a businessman. He is the Citigroup (NYSE:C) director and financier. Charlene also benefitted from a 3-billion-pound inheritance in 2002.
Sri & Gopi Hinduja
Venture: Ashok Leyland, IndusInd Bank
Net worth: 20.6B GBP
Country: England
The Hinduja brothers run the Hinduja Group, and currently rank in as the second-wealthiest people in the UK. Their mega-conglomerate operates in everything from banking and healthcare to automobiles and foundries. The company’s many assets are far and wide-reaching.
The business started off as a family business in India before their father moved the company to Iran in 1919. Political upheaval in Iran caused the brothers to relocate it to London in 1979, a few years after their father had passed away. The company’s big break actually came when Sri Hinduja bought the rights to the Bollywood film Sangam. The overseas sales catapulted the company into the stratosphere.
Lady Ballyedmond
Venture: Norbrook Laboratories
Net worth: 1.6B GBP
Country: Ireland
The Ballyedmond Family is the richest in Ireland. Lady Ballyedmond was educated at Newry High School. She became a solicitor, and then she inherited Norbrook Laboratories. Her husband died in a plane crash in 2014, leaving Lady Ballyedmond as the sole heiress to the company.
Norbrook Laboratories provides veterinary drugs. It was first founded in 1969, and Norbrook, Inc. is its subsidiary. The company is headquartered in Northern Ireland. Its CEO is Liam Nagle, while its chair is Ian Gibson.
Venture: E.L. Rothschild
Net worth: 637M USD
Country: England
Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild is the CEO of E.L. Rothschild. E.L. Rothschild is a holding company with investments all over the place. E.L. Rothschild invests in The Economist Group, which owns the popular Economist Magazine. She also owns real estate all over the globe, especially in Israel, where a street bears her family’s name.
Lady Rothschild was born in New Jersey, part of the States. She moved to England and obtained British citizenship. Lady Rothschild’s latest venture has been with “Inclusive Capitalism,” a movement to make capitalist investing more ethical and diverse. Her family originally owned a vast investment banking firm, but it collapsed after the stock market crashed in 1987.
Sir Len Blavatnik
Venture: TNK-BP, Warner Music
Net worth: 15.2B GBP
Country: England
Russian oligarch Sir Len Blavatnik was once the number one richest man in Britain. He was educated at Columbia and Harvard in the States before pursuing investments in Russia. From there, Blavatnik acquired vast wealth in oil, insurance and many other trades. He also owns Hollywood film companies and even part of the Warner Music Group.
Blavatnik is a somewhat controversial figure. Though he’s supported many amazing causes with his wealth, his close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle has brought him under scrutiny. Rumors have circulated that these ties have involved him with the current investigation surrounding US President Donald Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia to win the American election.
Venture: ArcelorMittal
Net worth: 14.7B GBP
Country: England
Lakshmi Mittal made his millions in the steel industry through his company ArcelorMittal. The company does business all over the world, giving Mittal the unofficial title of being the “King of Steel.” He’s also on Goldman Sachs’ board of directors and owns a major stake of Queens Park Rangers FC.
Mittal was born in India. In fact, in 2005, he was the first person of Indian descent to ever crack the Forbes top 10 list of richest billionaires. He was even listed on Time Magazine’s “Time 100” list.
Philip Day
Venture: Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group
Net worth: 1.05B GBP
Country: England
Philip Day currently lives in Dubai but he’s British through and through. He started off working in various clothing companies before joining Edinburgh Woollen Mill. He made a clever move and bought the entire company with a loan from the Bank of Scotland.
From there, Edinburgh Woollen Mill expanded into all kinds of lucrative retail chains. The company owns retailers like Jane Norman, Jaeger and Peacocks. He barely spends any time in the UK anymore. But his companies have clearly made their impact and can be seen all over the country.
John Reece
Venture: Ineos
Net worth: 7B GBP
Country: England
John Reece, born in England, is one of the richest men on planet Earth. He was once a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Reece’s education focused on economics, but he soon became PricewaterhouseCoopers’ leading expert on chemicals and plastics. In 2000 he left the company to become CFO of the Ineos chemical conglomerate.
His vast wealth comes from his stake in Ineos. Ineos is the manufacturer of almost 60 million tons of specialty chemicals, making it one of the world’s biggest chemical companies. Reece currently lives in Switzerland – presumably in great luxury.
Kirsty Bertarelli
Venture: Songwriter, 1988 Miss UK
Net worth: 9.7B GBP
Country: Switzerland
You probably remember Kirsty Bertarelli as the iconic winner of 1988’s Miss UK beauty contest (and then second runner-up in the Miss World pageant). But she also happens to be one of the richest women in Britain. Most famously, she wrote the hit song “Black Coffee” for All Saints. The song soared to the top of the pops in the UK and dominated the overseas charts.
Bertarelli still writes songs and has even performed some of her own tracks. She married Swiss billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli around the time “Black Coffee” was released. The couple now lives in Switzerland and have had three children.
Alisher Usmanov
Venture: Spotify, Metalloinvest, Arsenal FC
Net worth: 10.5B GBP
Country: Russia
Okay, this one’s a bit of a cheat. Russian-born mega-billionaire Alisher Usmanov doesn’t have UK citizenship. But he does appear on The Guardian’s list of England’s richest individuals multiple times – probably because he owns so much real estate in London. He also happens to own almost a third of Arsenal FC.
Usmanov started off producing plastic bags after the fall of the Soviet Union. He took that money and made some seriously clever investments early on – the biggest of which were in Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Spotify. He’s also a major fan of fencing and has supported the Paralympic Games.
The Duke of Westminster (Hugh Grosvenor)
Venture: Bio-bean
Net worth: 9.7B GBP
Country: England
The 7th Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, was once the UK’s richest billionaire under the age of 30. He’s notoriously private about his personal life. What is known is that his inheritance from his father’s death in 2016 catapulted him to among the wealthiest people in Britain.
Unlike most of his predecessors, Hugh was educated at a public primary school. He was a football star at Ellesmere College before following up his degree at Newcastle University. He was also an Account Manager at a small environmental company called Bio-bean. And sorry about this ladies – but the Duke is, indeed, currently off the market. He’s rumored to be dating Harriet Tomlinson.
Venture: Bet365
Net worth: 3.5B GBP
Country: England
Denise Coates is definitely a billionaire who believes in betting big. That’s because she co-founded the online gambling empire Bet365, which went on to make her one of the UK’s richest women. She built the website while working in her family’s bookkeeping shop.
Coates uses her fantastic wealth to help cancer patients and disaster victims all over the world. Her foundation, the Denise Coates Foundation, also supports St. Joseph’s College’s work in Sierra Leone. Bet365 owns Stoke City FC.
Adele
Venture: Singer-songwriter
Net worth: 142M GBP
Country: England
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins – better known simply as ‘Adele’ – is the richest Brit under the age of 30. Adele has won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and even an Oscar for her music. Her records have sold over 100 million copies, making her one of the top-selling musicians on the globe.
What makes Adele such an interesting name on this list is the fact that her immense wealth reportedly only comes from her music. That means so endorsements. No paid spots. Nothing. Adele’s turned down contracts with L’Oréal, Las Vegas and even the offer to perform at the Super Bowl. Why? Because she thinks it cheapens her music. Frankly that makes us adore her all the more.
Ed Sheeran
Venture: Singer-songwriter
Net worth: 84M GBP
Country: England
Humble, talented singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran took the world by storm with his debut album. His music is among some of the top-selling in British history. Sheeran’s singles have since spread across the world, making him one of the biggest face of modern pop.
Having multiple albums go Platinum is certainly one way to amass wealth. But Sheeran also works as a music producer. He’s recently even expanded into acting with small roles in Game of Thrones and the Australian soap opera Home and Away.
Emma Watson
Venture: Actress
Net worth: 61M GBP
Country: England
Is there anything Emma Watson can’t do? The young star broke out with Harry Potter before tackling star-turning roles in The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Beauty and the Beast. She’s also known as a passionate advocate for gender equality, and is currently a Goodwill ambassador for the U.N.
Watson’s appearances in ads for Burberry and Lancôme transformed her wealth beyond belief. She built on that brand even more by working as a creative advisor for fashion companies.
Lily Cole
Venture: Impossible.com
Net worth: 11M GBP
Country: England
Chances are you recognize Lily Cole from her modeling gigs for the likes of Chanel, Tiffany & Co (NYSE:TIF). or Lacroix. Or maybe you know her as the star of films like St. Trinians, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus or London Fields. Her face is literally everywhere these days.
But Cole is also an inspiring entrepreneur. In addition to co-owning London’s Soho bookstore, she’s the creator of an innovation group called Impossible.com. She’s also joined forces with brands like the North Circular to help promote environmentalism.
Ian Wood
Venture: Wood Group
Net worth: 2B GBP
Country: Scotland
Ian Wood joined his family’s business, Wood Group, right out of university. At the time the company was a relatively small energy company that operated in the North Sea. But as Wood climbed the ladder, he transformed it into a global powerhouse.
Wood Group soon began buying rival companies both big and small until it was operating in some 50 countries. The company went public on the London Stock Exchange in 2002. It continues to dominate the energy industry.