Rich List 2017 135-250
with the healthcare information giant IMS Health last year.
Gillings, 73, and his Montreal-born wife, Mireille, a Canadian
biotech entrepreneur, retain a £706m stake. 2016: £722m, 159144= £ 900 m No change ■
VICTOR PINCHUK
Steel and investmentUkraine-born Pinchuk, 56, has a big fan in the White House.
Donald Trump has described him as a “very, very special man, a
special entrepreneur”. He runs EastOne Group, a London-based
investment adviser. Last year he settled a $2bn UK court case
against Igor Kolomoisky and Henadiy Boholyubov (qv) over the
disputed ownership of an iron ore mine. 2016: £900m, 126=144= £ 900 m £ 160 m▼
URS SCHWARZENBACH
Foreign exchangeSwiss customs officials seized more than 30 artworks in March
in a raid on Schwarzenbach’s Dolder Grand hotel in Zurich,
demanding payment of £9.8m in duties and fines relating to his
art collection. Henley-based Schwarzenbach, 68, a friend of
Prince Charles, has denied intentional wrongdoing. Having made
his wealth via Interexchange, Switzerland’s largest foreign-
exchange dealership, he paid £39m for the Buckinghamshire
village of Hambleden — a location for the TV series Midsomer
Murders. Bilan magazine puts Schwarzenbach’s fortune at
£988m in its 2016 Swiss rich list but we cut that as about a fifth of
his art is in the hands of the authorities. 2016: £1.06bn, 109148 £ 895 m £ 5 m▼
SIR ROGER AND PETER DE HAAN
Travel and insuranceBased in Folkestone, the De Haan s have spent £60m to help
regenerate their home town. The family fortune stems from the
Saga empire developed by their hotelier father, Sidney. Initially
specialising in holidays for the over- 50s, the group moved into
publishing and financial services. De Haan, 68, took over the
running of Saga in 1984 and sold it for £1.35bn in 2004. His
brother Peter, 65, had been finance director and now owns a wine
business and property company. Asset falls and huge charitable
spending reduce the siblings’ wealth. 2016: £900m, 126=149 £ 890 m £ 36 m ▲
THE EARL OF IVEAGH AND THE GUINNESS FAMILY
Brewing and propertyNed Guinness, 47, the Earl of Iveagh, is thought to grow 10% of all
the onions eaten in the UK at his 22,000-acre Elveden estate in
Suffolk. A direct descendant of Arthur Guinness, who invented
the world-famous black stout back in 1759, the Co Kildare-born
earl moved to Britain in 1991, inheriting his title and about £62m in
Guinness shares a year later. He is not listed on the share register
of Diageo, the drinks giant that owns Guinness, but we assume
the family stake in Diageo is worth £230m after a good run in the
past year. The family has £50m of assets in Elveden Farms and
the Burhill Estates Company , while in Canada its British Pacific
Properties owns land worth about £400m. 2016: £854m, 134151 £ 854 m £ 94 m ▲
MANFRED GORVY AND FAMILY
Property and foodSouth African-born accountant Gorvy, 79 , founded Hanover
Acceptances in 1974. The London-based group’s interests range
from property and venture capital to African agricultural
business and Refresco Gerber, Europe’s leading bottler of soft
drinks. Gorvy paid for the renovation of the Victoria and Albert
Museum’s lecture theatre, which now takes the name of Gorvy
and his wife, Lydia. Other assets add £40m. 2016: £760m, 147=152= £ 850 m £ 250 m ▲
TONY GALLAGHER
PropertyMidlands property man Gallagher, 65, sold his strategic land
business Gallagher Estates for £525m earlier this year. He is to
use the proceeds to build a £1bn private rented sector operation
in London and other big cities. Gallagher has been involved with
more than 100 retail or industrial projects across the country. He
hosted a 50th birthday celebration for David Cameron last
October at his Oxfordshire mansion. 2016: £600m, 197=152= £ 850 m £ 125 m ▲
TREVOR HEMMINGS
PropertyHemmings, 81, is hard at work before many of us are awake and
has no plans to retire. His Chorley plant-hire-to-pubs empire has
a £400m turnover and two main firms — Northern Trust and
Trust Inns — had £278m of assets in 2015-16. The Isle of Man
resident, who owns Championship football club Preston North
End and has had three Grand National winners, recently bought
last year’s Scottish National winner, Vicente. 2016: £725m, 158152= £ 850 m £ 150 m ▲
DOUW STEYN AND FAMILY
InsuranceSimples! The television adverts featuring the talking meerkat
Aleksandr Orlov have helped make Comparethemarket.com the
UK’s leading online insurance service. BGL Group, founded in
Peterborough by South African Steyn, 64, is the meerkat master
and Steyn’s family has a majority stake in its Guernsey parent.
Other assets include a £63m home in London and a 2,000-acre
gated community near Johannesburg. 2016: £700m, 164=THE EARL OF IVEAGH AND
THE GUINNESS FAMILY
Entry 149, £890mThe 12th Duke of Devonshire might have
proclaimed the aristocracy “dead”, but
the state of his palatial family seat,
Chatsworth House, indicates it is alive
and well. He has spent the past decade
— and £32.7m — restoring the 297-room
neoclassical building to its former glory:
regilding the window frames in 24-carat
gold and returning the sandstone facade
to its original honey yellow.
To celebrate the space in style, the
duke, 73, otherwise known as Peregrine
Cavendish, is exhibiting ball gowns,
wedding dresses and other outfits worn
by some of the most glamorous women
of the past 500 years. Supported by
Vogue magazine, the event at his
Derbyshire estate gives an insight intosuch icons as JFK’s sister Kathleen
“Kick” Kennedy and writer Nancy
Mitford, whose youngest sister,
Deborah, was the duke’s late mother.
The wealth of the duke, known to his
pals as “Stoker”, shows no sign of
diminishing. While family art treasures
were sacrificed to fund the Chatsworth
restoration, the remaining
masterpieces by Raphael, Van Dyck
and Rembrandt are comfortably worth
£900m (though we halve their
valuation to allow for tax).
With land prices still rising, the duke’s
36,000 acres at Chatsworth, the 30,000-
acre Bolton Abbey in North Yorkshire and
Lismore Castle in Ireland’s Co Waterford
are worth £270m. 2016: £870m, 131150 £ 880 m £ 10 m ▲
THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE
LandGETTY
The Sunday Times Magazine • 55