CHARLENE DE CARVALHO-
HEINEKEN AND MICHEL DE
CARVALHO
Entry 10, £9.3bnRich List 2017 Billionaires
2 £ 15.982 bn £ 4.392 bn ▲
LEN BLAVATNIK
Investment, music and mediaMilk Studios in Los Angeles was the venue for Blavatnik’s annual
Grammy party in February, where guests included Ed Sheeran
and Katy Perry and the glitterati were serenaded by Rita Ora. The
Ukraine-born investor’s pulling power comes from his ownership
of Warner Music Group, which he acquired in 2011. Blavatnik, 59,
who arrived in America from Russia with his family in 1978, is a US
and British citizen who has a home in Kensington Palace Gardens
that he bough t for £41m. Blavatnik had something to celebrate as
total music sales in 2016 rose 4.6% to £1.1bn. Warner is but a small
part of the Blavatnik empire. After found ing Access Industries, a
Manhattan investment company, he worked with other eastern
European tycoons to acquire stakes in newly privatised firms in
the aluminium trade in the old Soviet Union. He has a £6bn stake
in LyondellBasell, the world’s largest producer of polypropylene.
Other interests are worth £520m, while private holdings and
commercial property add £6.4bn. His base is in London, though
he spends much of his time in New York, where he paid $27.5m
for a Fifth Avenue apartment in 2006. He has hotels in Paris and
the south of France , a fashion label and a £2.6bn cash pile. With a
valuation rise of more than £4bn from 12 months ago, it has been
a year deserving of an extravagant LA bash. 2016: £11.59bn, 33 £ 14bn £ 900 m ▲
DAVID AND SIMON REUBEN
Property and internetThe latest success story for the Mumbai-born Reuben siblings,
David, 78, and Simon, 76 later this month, is data centres. Last
year they sold a 49% stake in operator Global Switch for £2.4bn.
The Reubens put themselves on the map during Russia’s
“aluminium wars” in the 1990s, controlling 5% of world output of
the metal. After losing a battle with a company run by Roman
Abramovich (qv) they left Russia in 2000, having made £1.3bn.
They invested in prime London property, including Connaught
House in Berkeley Square, and in 2015 bought a £70m car park in
Mayfair, which will be worth £500m after redevelopment. Along
with London Oxford airport and the London Heliport in
Wandsworth they own Arena Racing, Britain’s biggest racecourse
group, and have invested in Metro Bank, founded by Vernon and
Shirley Hill (qv), plus the hospitality and leisure company
Belmond, formerly Orient-Express Hotels. 2016: £13.1bn, 14 £ 13.229bn £ 6.109 bn ▲
LAKSHMI MITTAL AND FAMILY
SteelThe furnaces are roaring again in the steel industry. Mittal, 66, the
foremost steelmaker in the world, is feeling the effect in his bank
balance and on the Rich List, where his £6.1bn increase from last
year is one of the highest annual rises to date. Shares in Mittal’s
Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal rose after it reported a $1.8bn
profit in 2016 after a $7.9bn loss the year before. Mittal, as chief
executive, has seen his family stake grow more than £5.3bn in
value to £8.6bn. The metal has been Mittal’s life since his father,
Mohan, built up a steel business in early 1950s Calcutta. Mittal
separated his steel operation from the family’s Indian ventures in
1995 , before acquiring and turning around underperforming steel
enterprises. ArcelorMittal, whose board includes his son Aditya
and daughter Vanisha, was created in 2006. Mittal settled in
London, spending more than £300m for three houses in
Kensington Palace Gardens and becoming a shareholder in QPR
football club. He has cash assets of £2.8bn. 2016: £7.12bn, 115 £ 11.791bn £ 4.211 bn ▲
ALISHER USMANOV
Mining and investmentUsmanov, 63, holds a 30% stake in Premier League football club
Arsenal but is at war with the majority shareholder, US billionaire
Stan Kroenke, over a replacement for manager Arsène Wenger.
Last year Usmanov bought out the 15% stake in the club owned
by his business partner Farhad Moshiri (qv) in a deal worth about
£146m. Now the Uzbek-born entrepreneur’s firm is sponsoring the
Finch Farm training ground of Everton, the team in which Moshiri
purchased a 49.9% holding in 2016. Usmanov would love to takeover at the Emirates, and has the firepower to do it. He grew rich
through steel and iron ore mines, and his assets, including shares
in Spotify and Airbnb, are up to about £4bn. 2016: £7.58bn, 106 £ 11.5bn £ 1.72bn ▲
ERNESTO AND KIRSTY BERTARELLI
PharmaceuticalsGiving up on pharmaceuticals seems impossible for Italian-born
Swiss businessman Bertarelli, 51. Eleven years after his family
sold its biotech firm Serono for $13.3bn, netting $8.6bn, the
Belgravia resident is part of a group holding nearly 19% of the
Swiss pharma operation Santhera, where shares have rocketed.
His wife, Kirsty, 45, a former Miss UK turned singer-songwriter
and a mother of three, is a member of the Roper family, which
runs Staffordshire-based Churchill China. Keen yachtsman
Bertarelli, a double winner of the America’s Cup, has London
property worth more than £200m. 2016: £9.78bn, 57 £ 10.5bn £ 500 m▼
GUY, GEORGE AND GALEN JR WESTON AND FAMILY
RetailingThe giant Weston food and retailing operation, spanning Europe
and North America, and its charitable arms remain under family
control. British brothers Guy, 56, and George, 53, are great-
grandsons of Canadian baker George Weston, who founded the
firm in 1882. Guy chairs the £12.75bn UK-based charity Garfield
Weston Foundation, owner of 79.2% of Wittington Investments,
the family’s financial vehicle. In turn it controls Fortnum & Mason,
Heal’s furniture stores and Associated British Foods (ABF),
where George is chief executive. Their cousin, Dublin-born
Galen Jr, 44, heads the £9bn Toronto-headquartered George
Weston operation in which the family has a 63% stake. His father,
Buckinghamshire-born Galen Sr, 76, is married to Dubliner Hilary,
75, a former model, and chairs London’s Selfridges Group where
their daughter Alannah, 45, is his deputy. Shares in ABF — which
has brands including Kingsmill bread, Silver Spoon sugar and
Ryvita, and fashion chain Primark as a subsidiar y — have slipped.
The Westons own a 20.8% stake worth £4.3bn. 2016: £11bn, 48 £ 9.66bn £ 960 m ▲
KIRSTEN AND JORN RAUSING
Inheritance and investmentThe Queen (qv) appointed Kirsten , 64, deputy lieutenant of
Suffolk in January, a role that involves assisting with royal visits to
the county. Swede Rausing should have plenty to talk to Her
Majesty about as both share a keen interest in horseracing.
Rausing has two Suffolk stud farms and jointly owns the British
Bloodstock Agency. The Rausings’ fortune derives from the Tetra
Laval packaging group, owned by her family, including brothers
Jorn, 57, and Finn, 61. It had sales of more than £10bn in 2015-16.
The Swiss-based firm was built into a multinational by their late
father, Gad — whose wi dow, Birgit, retains a large stake — and his
brother Hans (qv). Surrey resident Jorn put £26.5m into online
retailer Ocado, where he has a £182m stake. 2016: £8.7bn, 89 £ 9.52bn £ 170 m ▲
THE DUKE OF WESTMINSTER AND
THE GROSVENOR FAMILY
Property 2016: £9.35bn, 6The cool young Duke of Westminster, page 2610 £ 9.3bn £ 150 m ▲
CHARLENE DE CARVALHO-HEINEKEN
AND MICHEL DE CARVALHO
Inheritance, brewing and bankingDutch brewer Heineken has seen its shares gain a good head of
foam this year. The operation is worth £37bn, with group profits
in 2016 growing 8.5% and revenues increasing by 4.8%. Charlene
de Carvalho, 62, is the daughter of late company boss Freddy
Heineken. She lives in London and Switzerland with banker
husband Michel, 72 , an investor in online mattress seller Simba
Sleep. The family stake in Heineken is worth £8.5bn, while
dividends and other assets add £800m. 2016: £9.15bn, 7“Luxury is
diff erent to
everybody.
But the
greatest
luxury?
Time is the
greatest
luxury”
HILARY WESTONERNESTO AND KIRSTY
BERTARELLI
Entry 6, £11.5bn22 • thesundaytimes.co.uk/richlist