Imagine if we tried to sell it out. It would be awful.
Beckham's wealth doubled in 12 months, making him the UK's first billionaire athlete as his business empire expands beyond football. The Gallagher brothers' Oasis reunion and subsequent wealth growth has propelled them onto the prestigious annual ranking of Britain's 350 richest.
- David Beckham's wealth doubled to £1.2 billion in 12 months, making him the UK's first billionaire sportsman
- Oasis brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher entered the Rich List for the first time with combined wealth of £375 million
- The UK now has 157 billionaires, down 20 from four years ago
- Nearly a third of UK billionaires on the list no longer live on the British mainland
David Beckham has become the UK's first billionaire sportsman with estimated wealth of £1.2bn, while Oasis brothers enter the Sunday Times Rich List for the first time with £375m.
The Sunday Times Rich List arrived this week with a milestone that would have seemed improbable a decade ago: David Beckham, the footballer who became a global brand, has crossed into billionaire territory. His wealth, combined with his wife Victoria's business interests, now totals an estimated £1.2 billion. In the span of a single year, the Beckhams doubled what they already had—a trajectory that makes him the first athlete born and raised in Britain to reach that threshold.
The list itself, compiled annually from estimates of identifiable wealth across Britain's 350 richest individuals and families, tells a story about who holds money in the country and where they choose to live. At the very top, unchanged for five years running, sit Sanjay and Dheeraj Hinduja and their family, whose £38 billion fortune flows from the Hinduja Group's sprawling interests in oil, gas, banking, and transport. Below them, the usual architecture of inherited wealth and industrial empire: the Reubens at £27.9 billion, Leonard Blavatnik at £26.8 billion. But the list is also shifting. Nik Storonsky, who co-founded the fintech company Revolut, has become one of the year's biggest risers, now worth £16.4 billion. Trading entrepreneur Alex Gerko has similarly surged into the top ten.
The Oasis brothers, Noel and Liam Gallagher, appear on the list for the first time, their combined wealth estimated at £375 million. Their ascent coincides with the reunion of their band, a cultural moment that has translated into financial momentum. They are not alone in their debut. Emily Eavis, who organizes the Glastonbury Festival, enters the list with her family at £400 million. When asked about the festival's profitability, Eavis spoke with the clarity of someone who has thought hard about what wealth means in her particular context. She said she and her family give away as much as they can, and that the festival's value lies precisely in what it refuses to become. "Imagine if we tried to sell it out," she said. "It would be awful. It would be the end."
The broader picture is one of contraction and migration. The UK now has 157 billionaires, a decline of 20 from four years prior. More striking still is the movement of wealth itself. At least 15 foreign nationals who appeared on last year's list have been removed because they no longer live in Britain. Nearly a third of those who do remain on the list no longer live on the British mainland. Robert Watts, who compiles the ranking, described this year's edition as "a tale of two exoduses." One in six of the individuals and families featured two years ago have dropped off entirely. British nationals, meanwhile, are increasingly resident in Dubai, Switzerland, and Monaco—places where they remain on the UK's Rich List even as they live abroad.
King Charles's wealth has grown by £40 million to £680 million, pushing him to number 230 on the list and above former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty, whose combined worth stands at £563 million. The biggest fallers include inventor James Dyson, whose fortune fell by £8.8 billion to £12 billion, a decline the Sunday Times attributes partly to American tariffs introduced under President Donald Trump. Manchester United part-owner Jim Ratcliffe has also slipped, from £17 billion to £15.1 billion.
Among the well-known names scattered throughout the list are Elton John, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, J.K. Rowling, Charlotte Tilbury, Brian May, and Lewis Hamilton. Thirty-four of the new entrants have built their fortunes from scratch rather than inheriting them. Nearly a third of those self-made fortunes are linked to London-based artificial intelligence start-ups, a concentration that suggests where capital is flowing in the British economy. At the very top of the self-made category sits the Duke and Duchess of Westminster with £9.7 billion, while Ben Francis, who dropped out of university to build Gymshark into a sportswear empire, ranks fifth among self-made fortunes at £800 million.
Citas Notables
As much as there is talk about our profit, which we do still need to have in order to recover and also to get land, we also try to give away as much money as we can, which is really, I think, at the heart of it.— Emily Eavis, Glastonbury Festival organizer
This year's Rich List is a tale of two exoduses. One in six of the individuals and families who appeared on the list two years ago don't feature this time.— Robert Watts, Sunday Times Rich List compiler
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
So Beckham's wealth doubled in a year. How does that actually happen for someone who's already retired from playing?
His money doesn't come from a salary anymore. It's his business empire—his stake in Inter Miami, his brand partnerships, his production company, his fashion ventures with Victoria. When you own pieces of things that grow in value, your net worth can move very quickly.
And the Gallaghers making the list—is that just from the reunion tour, or something deeper?
The reunion is part of it, but they've been building wealth for decades. The list captures their total assets now, which includes music rights, royalties, property. The reunion probably accelerated things, but they were already wealthy.
Why are so many billionaires leaving Britain?
Tax, regulation, lifestyle preference—the list doesn't say. But Watts notes it's a real pattern. Dubai and Monaco have different tax structures. Some people just prefer the weather or the community. What's interesting is they stay on the British list even after they leave.
That seems odd. Why would they count as British wealth if they don't live here?
Because they're British nationals with British assets. The list tracks identifiable wealth—property, shares, art, racehorses. It doesn't care where the person sleeps. But it does mean Britain's actual tax base is shrinking even as the list looks stable.
What about the AI start-up founders? Are they the future of this list?
Nearly a third of the self-made fortunes are tied to London AI companies. It suggests that's where new wealth is being created right now. But it's early. Most of these companies are still private. When they go public or get acquired, we'll see if those fortunes hold or evaporate.
And Dyson losing £8.8 billion in a year—that's brutal.
Trump's tariffs hit him hard. He manufactures overseas and sells globally. When tariffs spike, margins compress. It's a reminder that even billionaires are exposed to policy shifts they can't control.