India-born Reuben bros beat Hindujas on rich list

Britain’s annual rich list released on Sunday has a distinctly Indian flavour with two sets of India- born brothers grabbing the top two slots.

Mumbai-born property magnates David and Simon Reuben have topped The Sunday Times Rich List 2016 with a fortune of £13.1 billion, followed by the Hinduja brothers at £13 billion.

The Reubens, who own London Oxford Airport and London Heliport, have increased their fortune by £3.4 billion in the past year to jump to the top slot. Mr Srichand and Mr Gopichand Hinduja, who head the Hinduja Group, hold on to their slot from last year with an unchanged fortune.

However, another Indian tycoon did not have a similarly fruitful year with Lakshmi N. Mittal’s steel empire taking a hit from the global industry crisis and losing nearly three-quarters of his wealth.

The ArcelorMittal chief held the top slot on the list back in 2008 with a whopping £27.7 billion, which is now down to just £7.12 billion this year. He slips to 11th on the list from 7th last year.

“The guys at the top who are feeling the pain this year are often hit by a cocktail of plunging stock markets, low oil prices and the crisis in the steel industry — sometimes by all three,” said Robert Watts, compiler of the 2016 list.

Completing the top three is Warner Music owner Len Blavatnik, who has £11.59 billion. He has dropped two places after a reduction in wealth by £1.58 billion. The UK has clocked 120 billionaires this year, the highest recorded since 2006.