British richest people are 1billion £Richer in 2015



The UK's richest people saw their wealth increase by $1.4bn (£900m) in 2015, with property tycoon the Duke of Westminster leading the way.

The Duke of Westminster has a $14bn fortune, up $623m over the past 12 months, according to Bloomberg's billionaire index .


The 64-year-old owns swathes of central London through his company, Grosvenor Estates.

His wealth has been boosted by the recovery in property prices since the financial crisis. Earlier this year, he submitted a planning application with Westminster council for a 190-room hotel. The Peninsula London, expected to be completed in 2021, will include shops, a spa, a ballroom and 28 residential apartments.

He is followed on Bloomberg's list by fellow property billionaire Charles Cadogan, who controls $7.4bn - up $880m on 2014.

The Cadogan family controls more than 90 acres of prime central London property - Mr Cadogan can walk from Chelsea to Knightsbridge without leaving his land.

However, despite being the wealthiest Britons on the list, the Duke of Westminster and Charles Cadogan only rank 57th and 161st respectively on Bloomberg's global list.

The overall list is led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates , despite his wealth falling $3bn to $83.6bn in 2015. That fall meant second-placed Amancio Ortega, the chairman of the Inditex fashion group, closed the gap between himself and Mr Gates. Mr Ortega, Europe's richest person, saw his fortune grow by $12.1bn to $73.2bn.

He leapfrogged Berkshire Hathaway founder Warren Buffett, who dropped to third place with $62.5bn. He lost $11.3bn this year.

Technology billionaires were the top performers on the index, with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos seeing his wealth double during the year - up $30.7bn to $59.3bn. That handed him fourth place in the list.

Amazon recorded a rare profit in two quarters of 2015, pushing up the online retailer's share price to a record $694.31.

Bloomberg revealed that the richest people in the US lost an average of $21bn this year but still control a combined $1.58 trillion. There are 123 billionaires from the US on the list, three-times more than the second-placed nation, Germany, which has 34.

Europe's richest people increased their wealth by $21bn to $963bn, while the Chinese saw a $38bn rise to $256bn and Russians saw their fortunes decline $8bn to $172bn.

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