8 • The Sunday Times MagazineRich List 2022
could not thwart the authorities, this
mechanism illustrates the elaborate games
of “pass the parcel” that oligarchs play to
try to keep control of their assets.
“Part of the problem with targeting
these assets is the use by oligarchs of
proxies to hold on to them, such as family
members and business associates,” says
Ben Cowdock, investigations lead at the
anticorruption organisation Transparency
International UK. “This muddies the
waters for the authorities.”
Usmanov has lost the use of Dilbar and
those other possessions. However, he
remains their legal owner — so they are
still part of his £10 billion fortune.i
t remains a moot point whether
the authorities here in the UK
or overseas will ever be able to
expropriate frozen assets.
When pursuing asset forfeiture
proceedings, it is usually necessary
to demonstrate that the items have
been acquired with the proceeds
of crime. “The idea that these people
are just going to roll over and let
governments sell their yachts, houses and
other goodies is for the birds,” says one
London-based consultant who has acted
for billionaires here and overseas. “If
governments want to spend a fortune
going into legal battle with oligarchs, this
could all go on for years and cost the
taxpayer a fortune in legal fees.”
This potential legal quagmire partly
explains why talk of a fire sale of London
property by wealthy Russians in early
March has so far failed to materialise.
“I’m not aware of a single sale by a
Russian [vendor] going through since the
start of the war,” says one estate agent who
specialises in off-market sales of homes
around Belgravia and Knightsbridge. “The
government won’t try to force the issue.
They will be scared of the potential legalAccording to the very first
Sunday Times Rich List,
published in 1989, “old
Britain still looms large ...
The rich come
disproportionately from
those who have managed tohold on to their ancestors’
land and property.” Many
of the richest people living
here then were wedded to
these islands through birth
and family fortune. Few
typified that more than the
Queen, who topped the list
with wealth of £5.2 billion
when her fortune included
the royal art collection. Of
the top ten that year, five —
including a duke, two lords
and a knight — were born in
Britain; the rest had lived
here for decades.
These days deciding
who makes the Rich List is
a little more complicated.This year only 38 per cent of
the wealth of the top 250
comes from those born in
the UK — a decrease from^
45 per cent a decade ago.
Just one billionaire in the
top ten, Sir James Dyson,
was born here. Britain’s
second richest man, with
£23 billion, is sandwiched
between two sets of Indian-
born brothers: the Hindujas
(£28 billion) and the Reubens
(£22 billion). They are
joined by the Ukrainian-
born Sir Leonard Blavatnik,
the Swiss-born Guillaume
Pousaz and Lakshmi Mittal,
also born in India.Such statistics reflect the
complexity of wealth today.
To be considered for entry
in the Rich List, someone
must either be born in the
UK, hold British citizenship,
be resident here or have
“substantial” asset wealth
tied up in Britain.
That last one is open to
some interpretation. Take
Roman Abramovich, whose
wealth fell from £12 billion
to £6 billion this year after a
raft of sanctions. Despite not
having lived here for some
years, he still has money
tied up in London assets.
Tom Calverwrangling. I suspect these properties will
just remain frozen in time, maybe for years.”
Yachts, holiday homes and London pads
also account for only a fraction of oligarch
wealth. Much of it is now well beyond the
reach of western authorities. For years
the City of London has acted as a willing
middleman, happy to push Russian money
on to satellites such as the British Virgin
Islands. This is the so-called “London
laundromat”, and while it may no longer
be spinning for Putin’s closest allies, it
remains open to many other dark actors
looking to clean their shadowy earnings.
The Atlantic Council, a US think tank,
has estimated that wealthy Russians may
have squirrelled away $1 trillion (about
£740 billion) of this “dark money” to
sunny bolt holes over the years. In more
recent times many billions have foundtheir way to Cyprus and Dubai,
jurisdictions unlikely to prove hostile to
Putin-friendly billionaires.
There is without question one sanctioned
Russian who is significantly worse off. Soon
after the war began Roman Abramovich
said he would write off £1.5 billion in loans
to Chelsea. He later said he did not expect
to receive a penny from the impending sale
of the Premier League club — which we
had valued at £2.4 billion in 2021. On top
of that £3.9 billion hit from Chelsea, there
has also been a huge fall in the value of
Abramovich’s stake in Evraz — a metals
giant listed on the stock market. We now
estimate the thrice-divorced billionaire’s
fortune has fallen to £6 billion, down more
than half since last year, making him the
biggest faller in the list at a lowly 28th.
Mikhail Fridman, German Khan and
Alexey Kuzmichev — three London-based
friends who made their fortunes together
— have also seen their wealth clipped in this
year’s Rich List. All three were sanctioned
for their connections with the Kremlin. All
three still make this year’s top 50.
There are some signs of change, however.
Seven miles from Hampstead lies the
majestic Old War Office. Sold off by
ministers to the Hinduja brothers in 2016,
this Whitehall landmark is soon to open
as a Raffles hotel. There will also be some
85 apartments, the most ornate expected
to fetch £100 million. Charlie Walsh is
responsible for sales of these wood-panelled
billionaire bolt holes. Before the Ukraine
war he received a “glut” of inquiries from
budding Russian buyers. All subsequently
went quiet, Walsh later said.
For years the UK rolled out the red
carpet for Russian money. That era may
finally have come to an end, but it does
not mean that oligarch cash can easily be
cut out from our economy — or that
many of Putin’s friends in London are
going broke any time soon nWHERE DO
BRITAIN’S
WEALTHIEST
COME FROM?
tOtaL WeaLtH OF
BiLLiOnaires in tHe UK
650
600
550
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50£211.767bn£245.664bn£301.133bn
£325.131bn£343.943bn£418.817bn£480.451bn£490.687bn£653.122bnYEAR 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22£524.843bn£597.269bn