16-05-2025
Tayside tycoons named in Sunday Times Rich List 2025
A list of Scotland's richest people has been unveiled with several operating in Tayside and Fife among the top 10.
The new Sunday Times Rich List 2025 reveals billionaire Mahdi Al-Tajir, who owns water company Highland Spring, is the fifth wealthiest person in Scotland.
Every year, the wealth of the rich and famous across the UK is totalled based on identifiable wealth.
The top entrepreneurs operating in Tayside and Fife have been unveiled ahead of Sunday's magazine which will list the 350 richest in the UK.
Sitting fifth in Scotland, and just outside of the UK's top 100 in 103rd, Mahdi al-Tajir is behind Perthshire water firm Highland Spring.
The 93-year-old remains one of Scotland's wealthiest people, with his fortune slightly rising in the past 12 months.
The Blackford business sells more than 340 million litres (nearly 75 million gallons) of water a year.
Billionaire bus brothers, Sandy and James Easdale, sit at sixth in Scotland's rich list.
The duo, who made their money through firm McGill's, acquired Xplore Dundee five years ago.
Since then, the pair have invested more than £10 million in the city's bus operator.
The Thomson family, who own Dundee-based DC Thomson, have seen their fortunes rise by £79m in the past 12 months.
It comes following a jump in profits for the media group, which has a newspaper portfolio including The Courier, The Press and Journal and The Sunday Post.
DC Thomson also produces magazines The People's Friend, My Weekly, The Scots Magazine, Puzzler, Stylist, bunkered and Beano comic.
Fellow bus billionaires Sir Brian Souter and Dame Ann Gloag also make the top 10 wealthiest people in Scotland, sitting in ninth.
The duo are the founders of Perth bus company Stagecoach.
Sir Brian Souter lost more than £14m on his investments in 2024, according to accounts filed for the year ending March 31.
The Perth-born entrepreneur holds the vast majority of his wealth within investment vehicle Souter Investments Limited.
The number of billionaires has dropped for three successive years and now sits at 156.
The list of 350 individuals hold a combined wealth of £772.8bn – down by 3% in the 37th edition.
Sunday Times Rich List compiler Robert Watts said: '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.
'Homegrown young tech entrepreneurs and those running centuries-old family firms are also warning of serious consequences to a range of tax changes unveiled in last October's budget.
'Our research continues to find a wide variety of self-made entrepreneurs building fortunes not just from artificial intelligence, video games and new technologies but also mundane, everyday items such as makeup, radiators and jogging bottoms.'
