The 4 richest billionaires in Britain - worth an eye-watering combined £47bn
The individuals have amassed their wealth from various sources, and the country's richest man is not a household name.
Forbes has revealed the top British billionaires as its annual list of the world’s richest individuals was published. Topping the international list was Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur Elon Musk, with a net worth of $342bn (£259bn). Now head of the US Department of Government Efficiency, Musk’s wealth was up from $195bn (£148bn) in 2024. He was followed by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 40, whose net worth rose to $216bn (£164bn) for 2025.
Amazon creator Jeff Bezos, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, Bernard Arnault, and family completed the top five overall. Arnault is CEO of LVMH, a French multinational specialising in luxury goods and owns brands including Louis Vuitton, Dior and Sephora. American billionaires dominate the top 100, with the richest British individual not featured until 106th place on the list.
Here is a list of Britain’s top billionaires:
4 & 5: David and Simon Reuben (£9.7bn)
Born in Mumbai and raised in the UK, brothers David and Simon Reuben made their fortune through investments.
While their most famous holding might now be Newcastle United FC, where the family owns a 14% stake and David’s son Jamie is a director, their wealth was built through real estate and technology.
After both left school at age 17, Simon began by importing carpets and buying real estate, while David started off trading metals.
The pair’s metals trading company, Transworld, invested in Russia and Kazakhstan in the 1990s and traded in aluminium.
In 2016, they sold almost half of GlobalSwitch's data centre business to a consortium of Chinese investors for over £2.28bn.
3: James Dyson (£11.1bn)
Synonymous with the Dyson vacuum, the 77-year-old’s wealth has risen consistently over the last decade, from £3.03bn in 2016 to its current high.
Dyson invented the cleaner after becoming frustrated with his family vacuum in 1978. His company’s products use a cyclone to lift dirt.
He does not have an engineering degree himself and attended art school in London. However, he was once one of the most prominent UK business leaders to back Brexit before the 2016 referendum.
Despite moving his company’s global headquarters to Singapore in 2019, Dyson maintains that the company is “British”. He said in 2021 that the UK’s exit from the EU had given him “freedom”.
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2: Sir Jim Ratcliffe (£12.2bn)
Yet Ratcliffe, 72, is the country’s second-richest man largely down to his status as founder, chair and majority owner of chemical company Ineos.
Ineos’s 600-foot “dragon ships” were the first to transport US shale gas into Europe, producing a wide range of products from synthetic oils to solvents used to produce insulin and antibiotics.
The tycoon purchased his 28% Manchester United stake for around £1.25bn through Ineos, which also has investments in cycling and sailing.
Despite the high headline figure, Ratcliffe’s net worth is down from its recent high of over £17bn in 2023.
1: Michael Platt (£14.3bn)
Michael Platt, 57, has a net worth that equates to £14.26bn and made his money from hedge funds.
Born in Preston, he is the co-founder and CEO of BlueCrest Capital Management, which he started in late 2000 after working for nearly a decade at investment bank JP Morgan.
Figures show that Platt’s wealth has almost doubled in the last five years, and he has been the richest man in the country for the last two years running.
The Mail reported last year that the receptionist at the front desk of the building where Platt’s company operates is blissfully unaware of who he is.
Even at his office in the glass skyscraper near Victoria Station, Platt has remained almost anonymous and is not a household name despite his immense wealth.
