Number of UK billionaires falls after market turmoil; Japan's GDP shrinks

Business Mayor

16-05-2025

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
The number of British billionaires has fallen, as the super-rich are hit by stock market turbulence and the end of tax breaks for non-doms.
The Sunday Times's annual totting-up of Britain's richest people, just published shows that the number of billionaires slid to 156 this year from 165 in 2024. That's the sharpest decline in the Rich List's 37-year-history.
The Sunday Times reports that 'falling fortunes' have led many to drop off the list, while others are no longer eligible, having 'fled Britain after Labour's non-dom crackdown'.
Robert Watts, compiler of the Rich List, says:
'Our billionaire count is down and the combined wealth of those who feature in our research is falling.
'We are also finding fewer of the world's super rich are coming to live in the UK.'
In March 2024, then-chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced plans to axe the UK's tax breaks for non-doms, which allowed foreign nationals who live in the UK to avoid paying UK tax on their overseas income and gains. One London-based billionaire non-dom left the UK for good on the day of Hunt's announcement, a tax advisor revealed.
Rachel Reeves tightened the policy in her first budget, before then softening the changes in an attempt to woo the rich.
The Sunday Times has calculated that the combined wealth of the 350 entries on the Rich List has dropped by 3% over the last year, to £772.8bn, the third consecutive drop in collective value.
The entry level flatlines at £350m.
For the fourth successive year, the list is topped by Indian-born industrialist Gopi Hinduja, 85, and family with a fortune of £35.3bn, down from £37.1bn in 2024 due to the drop in the value of their stock market-listed companies. Overall, the Hinduja's companies operate in automotive, oil and speciality chemicals, banking and finance, IT, cybersecurity, healthcare, trading, infrastructure project development, media and entertainment, power, and real estate.
David and Simon Reuben and family have risen to second place, with £26.8bn (up from £25bn last year) overtaking Sir Leonard Blavatnik, whose wealth has dropped to £25.725bn (from £29.2bn) due to a drop in his stake in Warner Music Group,
There are some eye-catching fallers on the list too, including businessman Sir Jim Ratcliffe. He's dropped from 4th to 7th, after his wealth declined to £17bn from £23,5bn in 2024.
Britain's billionaires will have gained wealth in the last few weeks as global stock markets recovered from their plunge in early April, when Donald Trump launched his global trade war. The agenda 9.30am BST: Hong Kong GDP report for Q1 2025
10am BST: Eurozone trade balance report for March
1.30pm BST: US building permits and housing starts data for April
3pm BST: University of Michigan survey of US consumer sentiment for May (flash estimate) Share
Updated at 08.46 CEST
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Just in: there are signs that Donald Trump's flurry of tariffs may have cooled the US housing market.
U.S. single-family homebuilding fell in April by 2.1%, new data shows, to an annual rate of 927,000. That may show that tariffs on imported materials dampened demand, along with high mortgage rates.
Overall housing starts in April rose by 1.6%, though.
But, applications for building permits – to allow future construction, dropped by 4.7% on a monthly basis in April, and were 3.2% lower than in April 2024.
🚨 US housing starts increased 1.6% MoM to 1.361 million in April, slightly below expectations.
US building permits fell -4.7% MoM to 1.412 million, a bigger miss below the 1.450 million expected. #realestate pic.twitter.com/4StbvtEalU
— MTS Insights (@MTSInsights) May 16, 2025 Share
There's drama in the pharmaceuticals world, where the boss of Denmark's Novo Nordisk has unexpectedly resigned.
Novo Nordisk, which produces the weight loss drug Wegovy and the diabetes medication Ozempic, says Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen is stepping down 'as per mutual agreement' with the company's board.
Jørgensen appears to be leaving in response to rising competion in the weight loss drug market, which has led to Novo Nordisk's share price more than halving over the last year.
The company says that Novo Nordisk Foundation Board recently 'initiated a dialogue with the Novo Nordisk Board on the merits of an accelerated CEO succession', adding:
Considering the recent market challenges, the share price decline, and the wish from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the Novo Nordisk Board and Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen have jointly concluded that initiating a CEO succession is in the best interest of the company and its shareholders.
Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen has agreed to continue as CEO for a period to support a smooth transition to new leadership.
Just last week, Novo Nordisk cut its annual revenue and profit forecasts, as it faced rising competition from US rival Eli Lilly, which makes the diabetes and obesity drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound. Share
Donald Trump's trade war has taken another twist.
The US president has revealed today that his administration will write to trading partners telling them their new tariff rates 'over the next two to three weeks.'
That's something of a u-turn, given Trump has previously spoken about cutting new trade deals with other countries. He appears to have realised that agreeing over one hundred new deals in just a few months is not practical.
Trump said today that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick 'will be sending letters out essentially telling people' what 'they'll be paying to do business in the United States.'
During a meeting with business executives in the United Arab Emirates, Trump said:
'I think we're going to be very fair. But it's not possible to meet the number of people that want to see us.'
Trump announced new tariffs on imports from a swathe of countries on 2 April, only to pause them for 90 days a week later after the financial markets tumbled. The US is now maintaining a new 'baseline' 10% tariff on imports. Share
Young people from the climate action group Green New Deal Rising have staged a protest outside White's, the London private members club, today to call for new wealth taxes.
Green New Deal Rising held the protest to promote their new PAY UP campaign – which calls for the super-rich and big corporations pay 'their fair share' of tax – to fix rumbling services, fund real climate action, and create a fairer society.
They are pushing for a 2% tax on the wealth of individuals such as the Duke of Westminster, Denise Coates and Jim Ratcliffe, who all feature highly on this year's Rich List.
BREAKING: As the Sunday Times Rich List reveals the richest 350 Brits own £772.8 BILLION, we're outside London's most exclusive private members' club.
Because – as clubs like White's flourish – two thirds of youth clubs have been shut.
It's time for the richest to PAY UP.
🧵 pic.twitter.com/APkuQOqpmn
— Green New Deal Rising (@GNDRising) May 16, 2025
Green New Deal Rising have also released a new poll, conducted by YouGov, which found: 58% of Brits believe this Government's economic policies currently best serve wealthy individuals (40%) and large corporations (18%) compared to UK businesses (3%), the working population (3%), and ordinary British people (2%)
It also found that 64% of Brits support introducing a cap on the amount individuals can donate to a political party each year and 73% believe young people today are worse off than their parents' generation.
Hannah Martin, co-director of Green New Deal Rising, says:
'Every year, the Sunday Times Rich List exposes the huge wealth of Britain's super-rich who have seen their fortunes explode over the last thirty years. Meanwhile, millions of us can't heat our homes, pay our rent or get a doctor's appointment. All whilst this Government claims there is no money to fund the climate action we desperately need to protect our futures.
The British public clearly think that this government's policies serve the wealthy and large corporations. But instead of taxing people like Jim Ratcliffe and Nick Candy fairly, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves want to impose even more cruel cuts to the most vulnerable. These are political choices and we want the Government to choose differently. It's time for the people who lock themselves away in private luxury clubs like White's to pay up for our schools, hospitals, homes and climate action.' Share
Today's Rich List should be a reality check for the government, argues Caitlin Boswell, head of advocacy and policy at Tax Justice UK.
Just 350 ultra-rich individuals and families hold more wealth than the GDP of countries like Belgium, Argentina or Ireland. At the same time, record numbers of people are using food banks, too many people are waiting for healthcare appointments, schools don't have enough money to teach our children well and local services are being slashed.
The government is trying to balance the books by cutting support for disabled people while millions are already struggling to keep a roof over their head and put food on the table. The government must catch up and start taxing wealth to fix the country and improve people's lives, so that all of our communities can flourish.' Share
Microsoft has offered the European Union an olive branch over charges that it illegally linking chat and video app with Office 365 products.
The US software giant has offered to sell its Office product without Teams at a lower price than Office with Teams, and offer rivals better interoperability access to its services and products, EU antitrust regulators said today.
The European Commission said it was now going to seek feedback from rivals and customers before deciding whether to accept the offer.
Microsoft's Vice President for European Government Affairs Nanna-Louise Linde said in a blogpost that the proposal was a clear and complete resolution to concerns raised by rivals and would give Europeans more choice.
Last June, the EC accused Microsoft of illegally linking its chat and video app Teams with its Office 365 suite of products including Word. The charges could potentially lead to a large fine. Share
Donald Trump won't like this!
Europe's trade surplus with the US has swelled, as the US president ratched up trade war tensions.
Data provider eurostat has reported that the EU's trade balance with the US swelled to €40.7bn in March, up from €16.7bn a year earlier. Exports to the US jumped by 59.5%. A chart showing EU trade Photograph: Eurostat
Overall, the EU posted a €35.3 bn surplus in trade in goods with the rest of the world in March 2025, compared with €22.3 bn in March 2024. The increase was driven by a jump in chemicals and related products.
Data last week showed that the US trade deficit swelled in March as firms rushed to import goods such as pharmaceuticals, ahead of new tariffs being imposed. Share
Mark Sweney
Shares in Future, the owner of magazines and websites including Marie Claire, TechRadar and GoCompare, have tumbled more than 6% after the publisher said it now expects revenues to decline this financial year due to 'ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty'.
The UK-based company revised its outlook after reporting a 3% fall in revenues and 4% decline in adjusted profits in the six months to the end of March.
Future said it is adopting a 'more cautious view' of the second half of its financial year and now expects a 'low single digit' decline in full year revenues.
The company, which closed a number of underperforming magazines and websites last year including Total Film, said that digital advertising in the US declined in March but returned to growth last month.
It also said that foreign exchange rates represent a 'headwind' based on current rates.
Revenues at its GoCompare division fell 1% in the first half as the volume of car insurance quotes declined, however revenue from non-automotive insurance quotes climbed 10%.
Kevin Li Ying, chief executive of Future, says:
'Whilst the wider macroeconomic environment remains challenging, the quality of our content and intent-driven audience, and the uniqueness of our tech stack, underpinned by our strong financial characteristics, position us well to deliver long term growth in what is an ever-evolving media landscape.' Share
Japan's economy has shrunk for the first time in a year, helping to cement the UK's position as the fastest growing member of the G7 so far this year.
New data today shows that Japan's real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.7% in annualised terms (or -0.2% during the quarter), a larger fall than expected.
It's the first quarterly contraction since January-March 2024.
The decline was due to stagnant private consumption and falling exports, suggesting the economy was losing support from overseas demand even before Donald Trump announced sweeping 'reciprocal' tariffs on 2 April.
Sam Jochim, economist at EFG Asset Management, says:
Japan's GDP contracted by more than expected in Q1, falling 0.2% over the quarter. The contraction was the first in a year and reflected weakness in exports, likely due in part to the yen appreciation in the first three months of the year that would have impacted Japan's export competitiveness. The partial offset, and main positive within the data was that domestic demand remained strong.
In addition, Japan's potential growth rate is estimated by BoJ staff at around 0.5% year-on-year. This equates to a quarterly growth rate of around 0.1%, which is lower than for many economies and means any deviations below this can easily result in a contraction.
With only Canada yet to report Q1 GDP data, here's how the G7 line up. Share
Updated at 11.20 CEST
Alex Beard isn't the only person to lose their billionaire status this year.
The Sunday Times Rich List also shows that Suneil Setiya and Greg Skinner, who founded hedge fund Quadrature Capital, are now worth £980m each, a drop of £35m.
Strive Masiyiwa, the telecommunications and technology entrepreneur who founded Econet, has also slipped out of the club – his wealth dropped sharply in the last year, down £538m to £968m.
Malcolm Healey, the founder of Wren Kitchens, also had a bad year. Healey and his family's net wealth has been cut by £600m this year to £901m, meaning they're no longer Yorkshire's richest family (a title now taken by Portakabin creaters the Shepherd family).
Thor Bjorgolfsson, once Iceland's first billionaire, has had his wealth more than halved! It's dropped to £806m, down from £1.666bn in 2024. Share
Updated at 10.56 CEST
Igor and Dmitry Bukhman, the Russian-born brothers who founded mobile gaming company Playrix, top the list of the wealthiest people under the age of 40 in London.
Playrix has produced popular mobile titles including Fishdom, Township, Homescapes and Gardenscapes. More than 100 million people play their games each month, giving the Bukhman brothers a combined wealth of £12.54bn – up over £6bn over the year – and 10th place on the main Rich List. A list of the wealthiest people under 40 living in London Illustration: Sunday Times Share
Updated at 10.48 CEST
Brewdog cofounder James Watt and reality TV star Georgia Toffolo appear on the Rich List this year, following their marriage.
Watt, who created 'punk' brewer BrewDog, and Toffolo, who appeared on 'Made in Chelsea' and 'I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!' and now runs a talent-management agency and a dog food business, have a combined wealth of £425m.
They married in March, despite Watt's concerns that he might miss out on tax relief for investing in Toffolo's dog food operation.
Toffolo told the Sunday Times that the pair squeezed the honeymoon into two days between work commitments, explaining:
I suppose I've always had a particular type: powerful, successful men. Because I'm so ambitious myself, I think I would be insufferable for someone who wasn't at the top of their game themselves.
And watching James's devotion to work, to creating new things, is amazing. We talk about work constantly. When we sit down to supper we'll talk about the intricacies of a board meeting he's just had. I know that wouldn't be for everyone, but I find it invigorating.
🔹BrewDog founder James Watt and his wife, Georgia Toffolo, make the list with an estimated wealth of £425 million https://t.co/aS1s3wQrrs
— The Times and The Sunday Times (@thetimes) May 16, 2025 Share
Updated at 10.00 CEST
The family owners of Bet365 swelled their estimated wealth by almost £2bn last year, as they weigh up a potential sale of their gambling empire.
Denise, John and Peter Coates are now worth £9.44bn, today's Rich List estimates, up £1.978bn over the last year, due to their ownership of Bet365.
That value could soon be crystallised; earlier this month, the Guardian reported that the Coates family are weighing up a sale that could value the business – founded in a Portakabin in a Stoke car park- at £9bn. Share
Updated at 09.26 CEST Dua Lipa Photograph: Ian West/PA
Pop star Dua Lipa is the youngest person to feature on this year's Sunday Times 40 Under 40 Rich List.
Dance The Night singer Lipa, 29, who has won several Brit Awards and three Grammys, is 34th on the list, with an estimated wealth of £115m.
In 2024 she released her third studio album, Radical Optimism. She also headlined Glastonbury Festival's Friday evening slot last year, in a set dubbed 'an unequivocal success' by our own Alexis Petridis. Share
Updated at 09.19 CEST
Commodity giant Glencore's former head of oil, Alex Beard, has lost his billionaire status due to stock market turbulence.
Beard, a highly successful commodity trader, is now worth £991m according to the 2025 Rich List, a drop of £224m.
Glencore's shares have almost halved over the last year, as commodity prices were hit by fears that a global trade war would trigger recession.
In August 2024, Beard was charged with bribery offences relating to the Swiss commodity trader's operations in Africa. He is set to stand trial in a London court in 2027 having indicated he will plead not guilty. Share
Luke Hildyard, Executive Director of the High Pay Centre, says today's Rich List highlights the connection between the excess wealth of 'Britain's billionaire class' and the country's low pay and poor public services.
Hildyard explains:
'The rich list is a useful annual reminder of the inefficiency of the UK economy. It shows a small fall in the value of oligarch assets this year, but over a longer period it illustrates how a tiny handful of very rich people have captured an increasing share of the country's wealth.
If the super-rich and the companies they own were taxed more effectively and paid the people that work for them a better wage, living standards in Britain would be much higher. Meanwhile the rich list entrants would still be extremely rich by any reasonable person's definition and well rewarded for whatever success they have achieved.
It's naive to pretend that taxing or limiting billionaire wealth would be easy, but equally such extreme concentration of income and wealth is very obviously not sensible or efficient and policymakers should surely be a lot more energetic in trying to do something about it.' Share
King Charles's wealth has reportedly soared over the last year to £640m, matching former prime minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty, who have moved in the opposite direction.
Today's Rich List shows that the King's personal wealth has jumped by £30m to £640m in the last year. That lifts him to joint 238th in the list of the UK's 350 wealthiest people and families, up 20 places from 258th in 2024.
The Sunday Times concedes that the magnitude of the King's wealth divides opinion, as assets – such as the £15.5bn Crown Estate – are owned 'in the right of the Crown', and are not the King's private property.
But as they explain, Charles built up his wealth over the years by saving the profits he received from the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall – two vast property empires that generate private income for the monarch and the monarch's male heir respectively (corrected).
Charles also inherited a large investment portfolio from Queen Elizabeth, which the Rich List says is worth about £125m, as well as valuable assets such as Sandringham and Balmoral.
But his wealth exceeds £640m, by some measures. Back in 2023, the Guardian reported that King Charles's private fortune was estimated at £1.8bn.
At £640m, the King is now tied with Sunak and Murty, whose wealth has slipped to £640m from £651m, That's due to a drop in the value of Murty's stake in Infosys – the tech company founded by her father, which was hit by worries over US tariffs. Share
Updated at 10.52 CEST
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
The number of British billionaires has fallen, as the super-rich are hit by stock market turbulence and the end of tax breaks for non-doms.
The Sunday Times's annual totting-up of Britain's richest people, just published shows that the number of billionaires slid to 156 this year from 165 in 2024. That's the sharpest decline in the Rich List's 37-year-history.
The Sunday Times reports that 'falling fortunes' have led many to drop off the list, while others are no longer eligible, having 'fled Britain after Labour's non-dom crackdown'.
Robert Watts, compiler of the Rich List, says:
'Our billionaire count is down and the combined wealth of those who feature in our research is falling.
'We are also finding fewer of the world's super rich are coming to live in the UK.'
In March 2024, then-chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced plans to axe the UK's tax breaks for non-doms, which allowed foreign nationals who live in the UK to avoid paying UK tax on their overseas income and gains. One London-based billionaire non-dom left the UK for good on the day of Hunt's announcement, a tax advisor revealed.
Rachel Reeves tightened the policy in her first budget, before then softening the changes in an attempt to woo the rich.
The Sunday Times has calculated that the combined wealth of the 350 entries on the Rich List has dropped by 3% over the last year, to £772.8bn, the third consecutive drop in collective value.
The entry level flatlines at £350m.
For the fourth successive year, the list is topped by Indian-born industrialist Gopi Hinduja, 85, and family with a fortune of £35.3bn, down from £37.1bn in 2024 due to the drop in the value of their stock market-listed companies. Overall, the Hinduja's companies operate in automotive, oil and speciality chemicals, banking and finance, IT, cybersecurity, healthcare, trading, infrastructure project development, media and entertainment, power, and real estate.
David and Simon Reuben and family have risen to second place, with £26.8bn (up from £25bn last year) overtaking Sir Leonard Blavatnik, whose wealth has dropped to £25.725bn (from £29.2bn) due to a drop in his stake in Warner Music Group,
There are some eye-catching fallers on the list too, including businessman Sir Jim Ratcliffe. He's dropped from 4th to 7th, after his wealth declined to £17bn from £23,5bn in 2024.
Britain's billionaires will have gained wealth in the last few weeks as global stock markets recovered from their plunge in early April, when Donald Trump launched his global trade war. The agenda 9.30am BST: Hong Kong GDP report for Q1 2025
10am BST: Eurozone trade balance report for March
1.30pm BST: US building permits and housing starts data for April
3pm BST: University of Michigan survey of US consumer sentiment for May (flash estimate) Share
Updated at 08.46 CEST
READ SOURCE businessmayor May 16, 2025