TEN super-wealthy Cypriots and five Greeks have been included in the Sunday Times’ list of the wealthiest 1,000 people in Britain.
Alkis David of the Leventis family leads the small elite with a personal fortune estimated at £1.2 billion pounds sterling, up from £1 billion last year. David owns 80 per cent of the video-on-demand website Filmon, recently valued at £587million.
EasyGroup’s Stelios Hadjioannou, came in at second place in the Greek and Greek Cypriot rankings with a net worth estimated at £820 million, of which £734 million comes from his Easy empire.
This is an increase on his net worth last year of £544 million. In third place Michalis Laimos, son of shipowner Constantinos Laimos, who quit shipping in the 1980’s to focus on tourism, insurance and property, holds a net estimated worth of £605 million, up from £550 million last year.
By comparison, the richest person on the list, Lakshmi Mittal the Indian steel tycoon, had a personal fortune of £22.45 billion, up from £10.8 billion last year. Roman Abramovich, the Russian industrial and oil tycoon who also owns Chelsea football club, was second with £7.4 billion.
With the possible exception of the property market, which is taking a little longer to ‘turn the corner’ than other sectors of the economy, the last year has been an exceptionally good one for the world’s super-wealthy.
The net worth of the 1,000 multimillionaires included on the Sunday Times Rich List increased during 2009 by £77.3 billion, up 29.9 per cent on 2008. This is easily the largest annual increase in the 22 years that the list has been compiled.
Nevertheless, this still leaves the net worth of the top 1,000 well short of the position they were in just prior to the financial crash of 2008. Then their combined net worth was valued at £412 billion whereas today, despite the sharp recovery, their net worth comes in at £335.5 billion.
By sector, at least 170 people on the list made their wealth primarily in finance and banking, compared to 246 through property and 229 through inheritance.
Of the Greeks and Greek Cypriots included in the list, Chris Lazari came fourth, with a personal fortune of £522 million, down from £638 million last year. Lazari is involved in property, particularly in central London. Nicholas Rodis, who made his fortune in the stock market and agriculture, has £350 million, up from £300 million last year. The Candy brothers, Nicholas and Christian, who are of Greek Cypriot descent via their mother and also in property, came in at sixth with a combined personal fortune of £300 million, down from £330 million last year.
Theo Paphitis, famous from the TV series Dragons’ Den, made 12th place with £100 million to his name, up from £85 million last year. Perhaps the most famous Greek Cypriot of them all, George Michael, ranked at lucky number 13, with a personal fortune of £90 million.
