Grangemouth refinery tycoon slips down UK rich list

Apr 27 2008

GRANGEMOUTH oil refinery boss Jim Ratcliffe yesterday tumbled down the UK rich list.

The Ineos chemicals billionaire fell from 10th to 25th as higher energy costs and competition from the Middle East slowed growth of his £3.3billion fortune.

Britain's super rich needed a personal wealth of more than £80million to get on this year's list, up from £70million last year.

The top 1000 multimillionaires have added nearly £53billion to their collective wealth and sit on a £412.8billion fortune - a rise of nearly 15 per cent.

Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, worth £27.7billion, tops the list for the fourth year running. Scotland's richest man is sportswear tycoon Sir Tom Hunter, worth £1.05billion.

Other Scots on the list include chef Gordon Ramsay with £50million and Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who has homes in Edinburgh and Perthshire, is worth £560million.

Rangers supremo David Murray has a £720million fortune while Hearts chief Vladimir Romanov is worth £200million.

Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson slumped from 11th to 20th in the UK list as the value of his empire fell by £400million to £2.7billion.