This South African billionaire is one of the top 25 richest people in the UK

The UK’s Sunday Times has published its Rich List for 2022, recording the country’s 250 wealthiest individuals.

The list covers individuals and families in the United Kingdom and includes many businessmen and women who have dual citizenship through business, investments or residency in the country, and includes four South Africans.

Leading the local rankings is the Oppenheimer family, with Nicky Oppenheimer et al having an estimated net worth of £6.546 billion (R128 billion), up £695 million from last year.

Oppenheimer’s big jump in wealth also saw the diamond magnate return to his position as one of the top 25 richest people in the UK.

The Oppenheimers are followed by South African-born Eswatini businessman Nathan Kirsch, who has an estimated £5.208 billion (R101.6 billion) fortune, according to the Sunday Times.

Kirsch was one of the biggest gainers, seeing his fortune balloon by over £1 billion in the past 12 months.

The other two South Africans who make it into the top 250 are well-known insurance businessman and property developer Douw Steyn, and South African-born investor and philanthropist Manfred Gorvy.

While Steyn saw his net worth increase by £50 million in the past year, he dropped two spots on the ranking. Gorvy, meanwhile, saw a £60 million decline in his wealth, dropping to 200th position. Manfred Gorvy is the founder and chairman Hanover Acceptances, the London-based property, food and financial services group.

Previous rich lists from the Sunday Times tracked the 1,000 richest people in the UK, and included property mogul, Sir Donald Gordon; Ubuntu developer Mark Shuttleworth; pharmaceutical boss Tony Tabatznik; businessman Vivian Imerman; and investment banker Richard Gnodde.

These wealthy individuals did not make the top 250.

Outside of the UK ranking, four other local billionaires feature regularly in global lists, including Johann Rupert, Koos Bekker, Patrice Motsepe, and Michiel le Roux.

British billionaires

According to the UK Sunday Times, the richest people in the country are brothers Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja – known as Sri and Gopi – chairman and co-chairman respectively of the Hinduja Group.

They inherited the business from their father, Parmanand, who founded it in Mumbai in 1914. The brothers are worth £28.472 billion – the largest single value recorded on the Times’ Rich List to date.

The publication noted a recurring trend among its billionaires, with many of the richest people in the upper reaches of the ranking being dual citizens, born outside the UK.

This is the case with number three, Indian-born British businessmen David and Simon Reuben (£22.265 billion) and number four, Ukraine-born Len Blavatnik (£20 billion). James Dyson (£23 billion), the Weston family (£13.5 billion) and Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken and Michel de Carvalho (£11.42 billion) are the only British born inside the top 10.

The Times said that for many of the UK-born billionaires on the list, “old Britain still looms large,” noting that the rich still come disproportionately from those who have managed to hold on to their ancestors’ land and property.

“Many of the richest people living here in 1989 were wedded to these islands through birth and family fortune,” it said. However, over time, the metrics around wealth have changed significantly, and even the Queen – who ranked number one 30 years ago with a fortune of £5.2 billion – has since given way to a different generation of super-wealthy.

Read: These two South Africans now rank among the world’s 250 richest people