It’s Rich List time once again – and someone is making history.
In news that probably won’t come as a shock, The Beatles icon Sir Paul McCartney has been confirmed as the UK’s first billionaire musician.
The Hey Jude hitmaker has seen his wealth double from £50million to, once again, take the top spot in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List.
He’s got his 2023 Got Back tour to thank, as well as the increase in value of his back catalogue, the re-release of two Beatles compilation albums, and Beyonce covering Blackbird on her new album, Cowboy Carter.
The Liverpudlian legend previously took the top spot in 2022, when his fortune was estimated at £865million, and in 2023 when he had £950million.
Alright for some!
Elsewhere, Sir Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour helped steer him to second on the musicians list with £470million, ahead of Rolling Stones rockers Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards with £415million.
Other notable names on this year’s list included theatre legend Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, with £515million, £100million more than Simon Cowell, and David and Victoria Beckham with £455million.
The publication’s 40 Under 40 list – which was topped by the Duke of Westminster, thanks to his £10.1billion fortune – featured the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Anthony Joshua, Harry Styles, and Adele.
With a minimum wealth entry of £350million the main list was again topped by Gopi Hinduja and his family with their £37.2billion, the largest fortune ever recorded by the newspaper.
In a staggering sum, the total list of 350 entrants had a combined wealth of £795.3billion, a truly incomprehensible number and one larger than Poland’s economy.
However, the outlet said the list suggested ‘Britain’s billionaire boom has come to an end’.
Robert Watts, who compiles the annual table, said: ‘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.’
Meanwhile, the release of the Rich List comes as millions struggle to put food on the table and pay their bills amid the cost-of-living crisis.
New figures released this week revealed that a record 3.1million food bank parcels were distributed over a year.
Sunday Times Rich List 2024 top 10
1. Gopi Hinduja – £37.2bn
2. Sir Leonard Blavtanik – £29.2bn
3. David and Simon Reuben and family – £24.9bn
4. Sir Jim Ratcliffe – £23.5bn
5. Sir James Dyson and family – £20.8bn
6. Barnaby and Merlin Swire and family – £17.2bn
7. Idan Ofer – £14.9bn
8. Lakshmi Mittal and family – £14.9bn
9. Guy, George, Alannah and Galen Weston and family – £14.4bn
10. John Fredriksen and family – £12.8bn
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