Scotland has more billionaires than ever before, according to a new survey of Britain’s wealthiest people.
The Sunday Times’ annual Rich List reveals there are a record 10 families and individuals with fortunes worth more than £1 billion, either living or born north of the border.
The much-pored-over tally shows the total wealth of the UK’s 1,000 richest men and women has risen by 14% – to £658 billion – in the last year.
Top Tayside earners Mahdi Al-Tajir, who owns Blackford-based bottled water giant Highland Spring, and Sir Brian Souter and Ann Gloag – who run the Perth-based Stagecoach empire – have both seen their stock take a tumble, but they remain in Scotland’s top 15 – ahead of Harry Potter creator JK Rowling.
Hanging on to the top spot in Scotland is the Grant-Gordon family. The Banffshire-based family is behind the world-famous Glenfiddich whisky brand, which is now run by the fifth-generation descendants of its founder, William Grant.
The family is worth £2.37 billion, up around £210 million from last year’s chart.
Former Harrods boss Mohammed Al Fayed and his family, who own the 65,000 acre Balnagown Estate in the Highlands, is in second place with £1.7 billion.
Emirati businessman Mahdi Al-Tajir, who owns Kier House in Perthshire, dropped down the list from two to three. His worth has been estimated at £1.67 billion, down £65 million from last year, despite Highland Spring turning a profit of £4.3 million on record sales of £103 million in 2015.
The Thomson family which founded DC Thomson – publishers of The Courier, the Press and Journal and the Beano, amongst others – has seen their fortune rise by £5 million to £1.285 billion, according to the study.
Sir Brian Souter and Ann Gloag suffered the biggest fall in Scotland’s top 15, and are no longer billionaires. The Sunday Times calculates their worth is down £80 million to £920 million.
The drop is said to be based on hefty charity donations made by the siblings throughout the last year.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who has a house in Perthshire, has seen her stock rise by £50 million to £650 million. This is mainly due to a hugely successful West End production – Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – and the new movie spin-off, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, starring Eddie Redmayne.
Robert Watts, who compiled the list, said: “We’re seeing more and more diversity in the composition of the Rich List.
“More women, more people from ethnic backgrounds, and more from surprising walks of life, with egg farmers and pet food makers lining up with hedge fund managers and private equity barons.”
It now takes assets of £110m to break into the ranks of the richest 1,000 people in the UK. The figure in 2016 was £103m.
The overall UK number one is London-based businessmen Sri and Gopi Hinduja, who are worth around £16.2 billion.
The richest people in Scotland
1. The Grant Gordon family (whisky) – worth £2.37bn
2. Mohammed Al Fayed and family (retail) – worth £1.7bn
3. Mahdi al-Tajir (metals, oil and water) – worth £1.67bn
4. Trond Mohn and Marit Mohn Westlake (industry) – worth £1.62bn
5. Sir Ian Wood and family (oil and fishing) – worth £1.6bn
6. The Thomson family (media) – worth £1.28bn
7 = Philip Day (fashion) – worth £1.15bn
7 = John Shaw and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (pharmaceuticals) – worth £1.15bn
9. The Clark Family (car sales) – worth £1.1bn
10. Jim McColl (engineering) – worth £1.07bn
11. Jim Mellon (property and finance) – worth £920m
12. Sir Brian Souter and Ann Gloag (transport) – worth £920m
13. Lord Laidlaw (conferences) – worth £795m
14. JK Rowling (Harry Potter) – worth £650m
15. Sir Tom Hunter (retail and property) – Worth £576m
