SHUTTERSTOCK
Rich List 2017
After diligently assembling a list of 50 names, a group
of the paper’s business correspondents was told to
put Beresford’s calculations to Britain’s unsuspecting
tycoons and aristocrats. The late proprietor of
Mirror Group Newspapers , Robert Maxwell, was
one of the fi rst to be approached.
“Sir, we’re investigating who are the wealthiest
individuals in the country and from what we can
see, we think you may be worth ... just over £500m,”
a young reporter said tentatively over the phone.
“Splendid idea,” roared the late newspaper mogul.
“Stick me down for £1bn.”
Not everyone was so quite enthused. The then
Duke of Devonshire was disgusted to be probed
about his wealth. Such journalism was a grotesque
invasion of his privacy, he argued. Words with the
newspaper’s proprietor followed and Beresford’s
brainchild was ditched by the end of the day.
When Beresford moved to The Sunday Times a few
years later, he tried again. This time, he found a more
willing editor in Andrew Neil. The project also chimed
with the free-market Thatcherite days of the late
1980s. The fi rst list appeared in 1989 , with the Queen
at No 1. In recent years Her Majesty has not made the
top 300 ( because we no longer count the royal art
collection as a personal asset).
Over the years, the Rich List has become something
of a fi xture in British public life, with the circulation of
The Sunday Times typically soaring by a bout 10% on
the weekend the list is published. Opinions diff er as towhy it has become so popular. There is the suggestion
that while many of us may be coy about money,
behind that front lies a fascination with the fi nances
of others — often with a whiff of schadenfreude for
those who have had a sticky year. There’s something
in that, certainly, but I suspect that many people
simply fi nd the stories of these people engrossing.
The days when the Rich List was dominated by
obscure aristocrats and bankers are over. Yes, you
will fi nd private-equity barons, hedge-fund kings
and property tycoons among the names. But you will
also read the many surprising tales of those who
have amassed fortunes from seemingly humdrum
goods and services. Vegetables, petrol stations,
dating apps, greetings cards, eggs, soft toys, pet food,
yoghurt... l oo rolls, even.
Do you expect to read about billionaire car dealers
when you pick up the Rich List? There are two in
this year’s edition. Many of Britain’s super-rich today
come from the humblest of backgrounds. The master
builder who formed the Berkeley Group , Tony Pidgley ,
was adopted from Barnardo’s at the age of four and
spent his early years living in a disused railway
carriage . Lord Alliance , the retail mogul behind the
underwear group Figleaves , arrived in Manchester
from Iran in his late teens. He was almost penniless,
with only his uncle’s address in his back pocket.
Dozens of Rich List regulars left school without
a qualifi cation to their name. Many others arrived
in this country as refugees, fl eeing war or despotic
regimes. All these people have amassed fortunes of
£110m or more, this year’s record baseline for
inclusion in Britain’s richest 1,000.
Readers also seem interested that these people
often don’t fi nd their fortunes until later in life, after
struggling through fi rst careers that did not seem to
get out of second gear. You will fi nd former teachers
and ex-soldiers on the Rich List, as well as those who
have worked as tyre fi tters, coalminers, police offi cers
and double-glazing salesm en.
Plenty of them have tasted their share of failure.
One has admitted to once being involved inThe Sunday Times Magazine • 5billionaires — up 14 on
the previous highthe overall wealth of
the richest 1,You will fi nd former
teachers and soldiers
on the Rich List.
Others have worked as
tyre fi tters, coalminers
and police offi cers
134
£658bn
people gaining £1bn
in a single year19