The Sunday Times Magazine – 7 May 2017

Rich List 2017

This list is based on our estimates

of the minimum wealth of Britain’s

1,000 richest people or families.

The actual size of their fortunes may

be much larger than our figure. The

valuations were carried out up to the

end of February 2017. We have

adjusted values where there have

been significant movements in the

share prices of quoted companies,

estimating the knock-on effect on the

fortunes of owners of large stakes in

those companies, until April 2017.

We measure identifiable wealth,

whether land, property, racehorses,

art or significant shares in publicly

quoted companies. We exclude bank

accounts — to which we have no

access — and small shareholdings in

a private equity portfolio.

We remain cautious regarding

liabilities. Where companies have

been involved in talks with banks over

debt levels, we have cut the owners or

large stakeholders out of the list until

the situation is resolved. Where profits

and assets of even high-profile

entrepreneurs and business owners

have moved into negative territory,

we have removed them from the list.

They may return in future years.

Many individuals in the list have

generated their personal wealth

from the sale of businesses. In valuing

them, we have to take account of the

tax paid on the sale proceeds, which

now stands at 18%, although

entrepreneurs’ relief can be applied at

10% for a lifetime limit of £10m.

On inheritance tax, we have again

taken advice and while tax is

payable on assets held at death at the

rate of 40%, no tax is paid on assets

transferred by gift seven years before

death or on those assets that pass to

a surviving spouse. We assume foreign

nationals will have taken advantage of

their non-UK domicile status to avoid an

inheritance tax liability.

In valuing privately owned hedge

funds in the City, we tend to value

them at about 10% of their funds under

management, and their profit record.

We value private companies on a

multiple of their profits, depending

on their sector, track record and

strength of their balance sheets.

While the average multiple used in the

FTSE 250 is 20 times profits, we

have been more cautious and taken

an average of 10-12 times the latest

profit figure, depending on the sector.

Family shareholdings are agglomerated

where it is obvious that the family

acts together to defend the

company’s interests.

We usually name the leading family

member to represent the whole family’s

interests, although in one or two

low-key families we have not highlighted

Compiled by Robert Watts

Edited by Alastair McCall

Associate editor Ian Coxon

Magazine editor Eleanor Mills

Art director Daniel Biddulph

Design Robin Hedges

Picture editor Russ O’Connell

Picture research Annalee Mather,

Emily McBean,

Production editor Lee Guthrie

Production Chris Jervis, Geoff Duff,

Jo Gunston

Research Nick Rodrigues,

Zoe Thomas, Judith O’Reilly,

Charlie Burt, Raph McCall

Chief sub-editor Trevor Lewis

Sub-editors Paul Kenny, Elliott Florence,

Laura Hookings, Derek Clements,

Bob Garton, Bruce Millar,

Charlie Warmington, Anna Bruning,

Mark Curtis-Raleigh, Anthony Green,

Philip Reynolds, Matt Munday, Tim Nagle,

Denise Boutall

Digital production Luke Sikkema,

Callum Christie, Ellie Austin, David Yost,

Hannah Scott, Gareth Mytton, Clare Hill,

Smita Dey, Matt Wood, Alicia Burrell

The Sunday Times

Rich List 2017

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

an individual but just called the entry

“the Thomson family”, for example.

Where a company has strong net

assets but low profits, we have used

the net asset figure as a benchmark

for valuation.

Family trusts are also aggregated

and included. We have distinguished

between trusts held on behalf of family

members, usually children and

grandchildren, which we include as

family wealth, and charitable trusts,

which are not included.

Land is valued on what and where

it is. Most valuable is London land

with planning permission, then other

urban land, then good farming,

forestry, poor farming and finally

desolate land. We take account of

shooting and fishing rights. Estimates

of agricultural land values have been

given by the land agency and

chartered surveying group Strutt &

Parker, and appear in the table above.

Only good land in the East Midlands and

East Anglia has fallen in price this year.

Valuations of musicians’ wealth are

based on research by Cliff Dane,

author of the Rock Accounts books.

These incorporate analysis of published

accounts and disclosed earnings,

catalogue valuations and estimates

of income from current activity and

retained earnings from music.

The art treasures have been valued

by an expert who wishes to remain

anonymous. We have devised a formula

that seeks to take account of the huge

tax liabilities faced by the British

aristocracy when they sell Old Masters

and similar treasures. We generally

assume about half the sale proceeds

are lost to taxation. Similarly, if large art

collections were to be put up for sale

simultaneously they could flood the

market, depressing any proceeds.

New private companies run by

millionaire owners have been

unearthed this year through the

computerised searches and analysis

of company accounts and directors’

shareholdings by Bureau van Dijk

Electronic Publishing (020 7549 5050).

Argus Vickers (argus-vickers.co.uk) has

also helped identify individuals with

substantial holdings in quoted

companies.

The 1,000 include people who

may not be British citizens, such as

Hans Rausing from Sweden, but who

live and work in Britain. In this age of

globalisation, where London is

regarded as the centre of a new

financial elite, we also include people

who are married to Britons, who have

strong links with Britain, estates and

other assets here, or who have backed

Britain’s political parties, institutions

or charities. We also include British

citizens abroad, but we exclude Rupert

Murdoch, executive chairman of News

Corp, parent company of The Sunday

Times, as he is a US citizen and based

in America. His family fortune is

£10.7bn. If he were in this list, he would

be ranked seventh. We include his

daughter Elisabeth Murdoch, who is

based here and has built her own

£156m fortune in television production,

see page 122.

We include citizens of the Irish

Republic only if they have extensive

UK business interests or were born

here. The 300 richest people in Ireland,

north and south of the border, are

included in The Sunday Times Irish Rich

List published on March 5, 2017, and at

thesundaytimes.ie/irishrichlist

We have used a large network of

local correspondents and specialists

who have advised us on the wealthy. We

protect their anonymity to allow them

unfettered access to the rich.

Anyone with suggestions for

names that could be included in

future can send an email in confidence

AGRICULTURAL LAND

VALUES PER ACRE

Scottish Highlands

Poor up to £600 (£600 in 2016)

Good up to £7,000 (£7,000)

Scottish Lowlands

Poor up to £4,000 (£4,000)

Good up to £10,000 (£10,000)

North of England

Poor up to £4,000 (£4,000)

Good up to £10,000 (£10,000)

West Midlands

Poor up to £6,000 (£6,000)

Good up to £12,000 (£12,000)

East Midlands

Poor up to £6,000 (£6,000)

Good up to £12,000 (£13,000)

East Anglia

Poor up to £6,000 (£6,000)

Good up to £12,000 (£13,000)

Southeast

Poor up to £6,000 (£6,000)

Good up to £13,000 (£13,000)

Southwest

Poor up to £4,500 (£4,500)

Good up to £9,000 (£9,000)

Wales

Poor up to £3,500 (£3,500)

Good up to £8,000 (£8,000)

Northern Ireland

Poor up to £3,000 (£3,000)

Good up to £8,000 (£8,000)

Republic of Ireland

Poor up to £3,000 (£3,000)

Good up to £8,000 (£8,000)

to Robert Watts, robert.watts1@

sunday-times.co.uk. The deadline for

candidates for next year’s list is early

in January 2018.

Reference sources we have used

include the national and regional

press, plus a host of other publications:

the daily Bloomberg Billionaires Index;

the Forbes World’s Billionaires List;

Canada’s Richest People (Canadian

Business); the BRW Rich 200 List

(Australian Financial Review); Quote

500 (Holland); The 300 Richest, Bilan

(Switzerland); Manager (Germany);

Challenges (France); New Zealand Rich

List (National Business Review);

Norway’s 400 Richest (Kapital); Forbes.

com; Veckans Affarer (Sweden); North

West Business Insider; Yorkshire

Business Insider; Midlands Business

Insider; Wales Business Insider;

South West Business Insider; Real

Business; Management Today;

Director; Estates Gazette; Bloomberg

Businessweek; Investors Chronicle; The

Economist; Who’s Who; Debrett’s

Distinguished People of Today;

Labour Research; Who’s Really Who;

Debrett’s Peerage & Baronetage;

Directory of the Turf; The Treasure

Houses of Britain; Who’s Who in the

North; David Cannadine’s The Decline

and Fall of the British Aristocracy;

Brian Masters’ The Dukes;

The Sunday Times Fast Track;

The Sunday Times Profit Track 100;

Andy Wightman’s Who Owns

Scotland; Asian Directory and Who’s

Who International; Sunrise; the

Birmingham Post’s Midlands rich list;

Eastern Eye’s Asian Rich List

146 • thesundaytimes.co.uk/richlist