The Sunday Times Magazine – 7 May 2017

Rich List 2017 751-1,000

from the sale of the life assurance assets of his Resolution

Group in 2008 and another £159m when Friends Life was taken

over. He donated £4 3m in 2015 to his Westminster-based

Resolution Trust charity and Resolution Foundation think tank,

which support projects to alleviate poverty. He was knighted last

year for services to children and mobility. 2016: £150m, 685=

CHRIS ELLIS

Mining 2016: £147m, 715=

THE EARL OF PEMBROKE

Land and art 2016: £145m, 721=

778 £ 146 m ■

LORD ARCHER

Novels

Archer, 77, says he earns £10,000 an hour from his writing, a sum

based on the premise that each of his thrillers takes 1,000 hours

to compose and results in a £10m cheque. He has sold more than

270m books in almost 100 countries and owns half of the West

End musical Grease. The Tory peer tripled his money on an Andy

Warhol portrait of Marilyn Monroe, part of his large art collection,

and there are impressive properties in Cambridgeshire and

London, plus a five-bedroom Mallorcan villa. 2016: £142m, 732

779= £ 145 m ■

DOUGLAS AND IAIN ANDERSON

Plant hire 2016: £155m, 670=

MICHAEL GRAHAM AND FAMILY

Construction New entry

MARTIN MILLS

Music

The phenomenal success of Adele’s (qv) third album, 25, has

boosted the fortunes of Mills, 68 on Friday, who owns the singer’s

record label with Richard Russell (qv). Profits at XL Recordings

soared to £29 m in 2015, with assets of £40m. Mills owns the

Beggars Group, which we value at £125m, as well as half of XL. He

started out by running a mobile disco in London called Giant Elf ,

before opening a record shop in 1972. 2016: £120m, 831=

782= £ 144 m ■

FINLAY ROSS AND FAMILY

Software 2016: £124m, 823=

ROBERT SENIOR

Business services 2016: £130m, 766=

784= £ 143 m ■

DUNCAN DAVIDSON AND FAMILY

Construction

Davidson, 76, a pageboy at the Queen’s coronation, was expelled

from Ampleforth College for running the school bookmaker. He

joined the developer George Wimpey , working in Iran, and later

founded Persimmon after selling his first venture, Ryedale Homes.

The family stake in the York-based housebuilder is worth £120m.

He also has a large Northumberland estate. 2016: £148m, 712=

GRAHAM HARRIS

Property New entry

786= £ 142 m ■

BONAMY GRIMES AND FAMILY

Internet

In 2001 Edinburgh-based Skyscanner was just an idea to help its

co-founders find cheap skiing holidays on the internet. Grimes,

Barry Smith and Gareth Williams (qv) financed it initially by

putting 10% of their salaries into a fund for six months. Last

November it was announced that China’s biggest travel services

firm, Ctrip, was buying Skyscanner for £1.4bn. Norfolk resident

Grimes, 45, and his wife, Juliet, own about 10% of it. New entry

PAUL ROONEY

Estate agency

Rooney’s Horsham-based Arun Estate Agencies made a £19.5m

profit on £68 m sales in 2015-16 and showed £ 50m assets. It is

worth £125m and past salaries and dividends take Rooney, 69, a

racehorse owner and turf follower, to £142m. 2016: £110m, 885=

LORD AND CHARLES SAATCHI

Advertising and art

The Saatchi & Saatchi advertising agency was built by Maurice,

70, now Lord Saatchi, and his brother Charles, 73, before they left

in 1995 to start again with M&C Saatchi. Maurice has a holding

worth £14.4m and property in London, West Sussex and France,

while Charles owns a vast art collection. 2016: £140m, 734=

789= £ 141 m ■

SIR HENRY ANGEST

Finance 2016: £130m, 766=

BILL HOLMES

Financial services 2016: £130m, 766=

Williams kicks off a 34-date European tour at

Manchester City’s Etihad stadium on June 2, following

his 11th studio album, The Heavy Entertainment Show,

a No 1 hit and a new contract with Sony last year. His

recent singles have struggled to create an impact but in

2016 he made the centenary edition of British Vogue,

which featured its famous October 2000 cover shot of

the bare-bottomed musician posing with the Brazilian

supermodel Gisele Bündchen.

His company You’re Not Famous showed £37m

turnover in 2015 and pay for the singer of £17.8m. He

lives in the 46-room west London mansion once owned

by Michael Winner, which he bought for £17.5m in 2013.

Last year Williams summoned a Native American healer

to remove the spirit of the late film director and Sunday

Times restaurant critic from the property, having earlier

won a long dispute with his neighbours, including Led

Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, over plans to renovate it.

Stoke-born Williams, 43, snapped up a Beverly Hills

home for $32m — $6m below the asking price — and

owns an £8m Wiltshire estate. 2016: £145m, 721=

748= £ 150 m £ 5 m ▲

ROBBIE WILLIAMS

Music

“There are

those who

win awards

and those

who sell a

lot of copies.

Sometimes

they come

together but

that’s rare”

LORD ARCHER

JULIAN METCALFE

Entry 772=, £149m

JONATHAN THORNTON
AND FAMILY
ALAMY; PA ; UPPA Entry 748=, £150m

The Sunday Times Magazine • 127