Rich List 2017 135-250
161= £ 800 m £ 50 m▼
SIR DONALD GORDON AND FAMILY
PropertyIntu Properties was founded by South African-born Gordon, 86,
who sold a life assurance business in his homeland to focus on
UK property. His main operation, Liberty International, is split into
Intu Properties and Capital & Counties Properties. London-
based Intu’s shares recently improved after the Westfield Group
raised its stake , although the value of the family holding in both
businesses has fallen to £692m. 2016: £850m, 135=161= £ 800 m £ 53 m ▲
MICHAEL SPENCER
FinanceSpencer, a former Conservative Party treasurer and close friend
of David Cameron, founded London-based ICAP, one of the
world’s largest interdealers. In 2015 he sold its voice-broking and
information division to Tullett Prebon in a £1.3bn merger,
receiving a 9% stake. He sold most of the new group TP ICAP for
£200m earlier this year, retaining a £21m holding. The rest of the
ICAP operation was renamed Nex Group, where he remains chief
executive with a £348m stake. He made £79m selling spread-
betting group City Index and past ICAP share sales add £90m,
though the full scale of his Tullett deal winnings have not been
made public. Spencer, 61 , was nominated for a peerage last year
but it was blocked amid fallout from the Libor scandal, when
ICAP was fined £55m in 2013 by regulators. 2016: £747m, 153163 £ 795 m £ 5 m ▲
LORD LAIDLAW
ConferencesScottish mill owner’s son Laidlaw, 74, made his fortune from
conference centres. Having moved to America in the 1960s he
started organising conferences in the 1970s and in 2005 sold his
Institute for International Research operation, picking up £714m.
Now based in Monaco and South Africa, he owns a yacht named
Lady Christine (after his wife) worth £30m. His charitable work
includes a £9m donation to Leeds University. 2016: £790m, 141164 £ 780 m £ 20 m ▲
SIR PAUL McCARTNEY AND NANCY SHEVELL
Music and transportThe prospect of turning 75 in June has not slowed McCartney,
who is still recording and touring. He played three concerts in
Japan last month, although those gigs were not as lucrative as his
impressive roster from last year. His biggest pay cheque — about
£8m — almost certainly came from October’s Desert Trip
festival in California. There were a further 36 shows in North
America, Europe and South America. MPL Tours, the business
that receives his performance income , turned over £2 9m in
2015-16, with McCartney netting £1 5m. His main company, MPL
Communications, held assets worth £24 m in 2015-16. A deal was
signed in 2015 to allow the Beatles’ 13 albums to be sold on
streaming services. As one of the main songwriters McCartney,
along with drummer Ringo Starr (qv), will earn well from sales on
Spotify and other platforms. We raise him to £630m. His US-born
wife, Nancy, 56, is worth £150m , derived from her father’s New
England Motor Freight lorry operation. 2016: £760m, 147=165 £ 775 m £ 125 m▼
CRISPIN ODEY AND NICHOLA PEASE
Hedge fundOdey, 58, donated £873,328 to the “remain” campaign but in
business terms was initially a winner post- referendum.
Mayfair-based Odey Asset Management gained £220m in the
days after the vote but his pessimistic bets on the UK economy
backfired when the markets turned. His £6.5bn hedge fund lost
49.5% of its value in 2016, yet even before the Brexit vote it was
struggling, with profits sinking from £8 4m to £44 m in 2015-16.
Wife Nichola Pease was deputy chairwoman of JO Hambro
Capital and netted £26m for her stake. Odey once spent
£150,000 on a Buckingham Palace-style henhouse for the
chickens on their Forest of Dean estate. 2016: £900m, 126=166 £ 770 m £ 20 m ▲
LUKE AND BRIAN COMER
PropertyThe Comers’ latest developments include Royal Connaught Park,
a former Hertfordshire school with a dining hall that was used in
three Harry Potter films. The brothers, originally from Galway, are
building 380 homes on the site. They began as plasterers in 1971
and then built a British and German property portfolio, and claim
to have 500 companies worldwide, with assets of £2.2 5bn. We
see £91 m of assets in their 14 British companies. Luke, 59, resides
in Monaco. Brian, 57, lives in Hertfordshire. 2016: £750m, 150=167 £ 765 m No change ■
MARCUS EVANS
Business servicesEvans owns World Productions, which has made some of the
most highly acclaimed British TV series in recent years, including
Line of Duty. He has interests in conference management ,
in-company training, sports hospitality and data. In 2014-15
profits came in at £35m, valuing the business at £500m. Evans,
53, also owns Ipswich Town football club. 2016: £765m, 146168= £ 750 m No change ■
PRINCE JONATHAN AND PRINCESS GESINE DORIA
PAMPHILJ
InheritanceThe Pamphiljs, Prince Jonathan and Princess Gesine, are the
British-adopted offspring of a leading Italian noble family. They
were adopted in the 1960s by the late Frank Pogson, a Royal
Navy officer who died in 1998, and his wife, London-born Princess
Orietta Doria Pamphilj, who died in 2000. Their inheritance
includes a 1,000-room palace in Rome and another in Genoa.
There is also one of the greatest art collections in private hands,
numbering 650 works by Caravaggio, Titian, Raphael, Rubens
and others. The estate and art would be worth several billion
pounds on the open market but the collection cannot be broken
up or leave Italy, so its value falls sharply. 2016: £750m, 150=168= £ 750 m No change ■
PETER GREEN AND FAMILY
Mining and inheritanceBermuda-based Green, 81, and his family sold their 25% stake in
the Maybourne luxury hotel group, owner of Claridge’s, the
Berkeley and the Connaught, to the Barclay brothers (qv) in 2011
for £75m. Four years later it would have been worth £400m.
Green and sons Andrew and Alexander also raised £350m
selling their Canadian mining business. 2016: £750m, 150=170 £ 744 m £ 541 m ▲
ANTHONY GREEN AND THE ZOCHONIS FAMILY
SoapManchester’s PZ Cussons, founded in 1884, is best known for its
Imperial Leather and Carex soaps. Former chairman Green, 66, is
the nephew of the late Sir John Zochonis, who ran the business
for years and is a descendant of its Greek founder, George
Zochonis, whose family owns 53% of the business. We are now
including all of the Zochonis family’s stake in our valuation, hence
the rise of more than £500m on last year’s Rich List entry. Green
retired in 2010 and his family’s 53% holding is worth £694m.
Dividends and other assets add £50m. 2016: £203m, 513171= £ 740 m No change ■
SLAVICA ECCLESTONE
DivorceAn amicable divorce from the former Formula One supremo
Bernie Ecclestone (qv) went through the High Court in 2009 and
immediately made Croatian-born Slavica, 58, one of Britain’s
richest women. Much of the Ecclestone family’s fortune was held
in the 6ft 2in former Armani model’s name in offshore trusts in
Jersey, and she reportedly pays her ex-husband £60m a year
as part of the divorce settlement. 2016: £740m, 154=ANTHONY GREEN AND
THE ZOCHONIS FAMILY
Entry 170, £744m“My life isn’t
motivated
by money.
I learnt
very early
on that you
can’t take
money with
you and that
it doesn’t
bring
happiness”
SIR CHRIS HOHNDREAM TICKET:
SIR PAUL McCARTNEY
AND NANCY SHEVELL
Entry 164, £780mALAMY; MERCURY PRESS
The Sunday Times Magazine • 57