National newspaper The Sunday Times has published its annual Rich List — but which Tayside tycoons have made the cut?
Every year, the wealth of the rich and famous across the UK is totalled (or at least guesstimated) based on identifiable wealth — including land, property, other assets such as art and racehorses, or significant shares in publicly quoted companies.
ASOS multi-billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen takes Scotland’s top spot once again, despite seeing his wealth decrease by £1.7 billion.
Closer to home, Highland Spring’s Mahdi Al-Tajir comes in at number four, while the Thomson family, owners of Dundee media company DC Thomson, are ranked seventh.
Tayside’s wealthy land on list
This year’s list of 350 individuals and families together hold combined wealth of £795.361bn.
There has been the largest fall in the billionaire count in the guide’s 36-year history, from a peak of 177 in 2022 to 165 this year.
Scotland’s seven billionaires have a combined fortune of £20.29bn.
If you were to count each pound individually, it would take about 650 years.
Mahdi al-Tajir, who owns the Blackford business Highland Spring, moves up one spot on last year to fourth richest in Scotland after increasing his wealth by £4 million.
This small hike in his finances is compared to the £50m he lost the year before.
Billionaire bus brothers Sandy and James Easdale, who own McGill’s (which operates Xplore Dundee) are placed at number six, with a wealth of £1.45bn — up £25m on 2023.
Fellow bus billionaires, Sir Brian Souter and Dame Ann Gloag, the founders of Perth bus company Stagecoach, take up the ninth position on the list. Their fortune is up £35m on last year, to £815m.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who has a home in Perthshire, also makes the list.
Despite controversy surrounding comments she has made on transgender identity and women’s rights, she has seen her wealth bloom by £70m to £945m.
She takes eighth spot, behind newspaper publishers the Thomson family.
The Thomsons have seen their family fortune fall by £90m, and are worth £1.367bn according to The Sunday Times.
The full list is available on The Sunday Times website.
Billionaire boom may be at an end
Robert Watts, compiler of the list, said: “This year’s Sunday Times Rich List suggests Britain’s billionaire boom has come to an end.
“Many of our home-grown entrepreneurs have seen their fortunes fall and some of the global super rich who came here are moving away.
“Thousands of British livelihoods rely on the super-rich to some extent.
“We’ll have to wait and see whether we have now reached peak billionaire, and what that means for our economy.
“These may be harder times to create wealth, but The Sunday Times Rich List continues to unearth entrepreneurs building fortunes in diverse and often surprising ways.
“This year’s new entries include people who have made money from artificial intelligence and virtual worlds as well as plumbing supplies and teaching aides.
“We know many of our readers find such people — especially those from humbler backgrounds — very inspiring.”
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