Mittal poorer by £16.9 bn, still richest man in UK

London: Non-Resident Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal continues to be the richest man in the UK in 2009, despite his wealth dwindling by £ 16.9 billion in a year owing to the global recession, The Sunday Times Rich List claimed on Sunday.

India's Mukesh and Anil Ambani have been jointly ranked as the sixth richest in the world with a fortune of £ 20.5 billion.

Roman Abramovich, the Russian owner of Chelsea Football Club, keeps his position at second on the list despite also suffering from the downturn. His fortune has fallen to £ 7 billion from £ 11.7 billion.

America's the Walton family of Wal-Mart is the richest in the world -- with £ 52.3 billion. Lakshmi Mittal is 21st richest in the world.

Leading NRI entrepreneur Lord Swraj Paul, Chairman of the Caparo Group, has seen his wealth dropping by £ 1 billion in 2008 -- from £ 1.5 billion to £ 500 million now, the paper reported.

The recession has wiped off £ 155 billion from the fortunes of Britain's 1,000 richest people. The unprecedented collapse is the biggest annual fall since the Rich List was first compiled 21 years ago, the paper said.

The number of billionaires in the Rich List has fallen from 75 in 2008 to 43 in 2009. Between them, people ranked in the top 100 lost £ 93 billion. Only three saw their wealth increase.

Fifty eight-year-old Mittal has sustained losses of more than three times the level of Roman Abramovich, his nearest rival in the down-shifting stakes.

Stock market turmoil and fears of declining demand for steel have shrunk the value of the Mittal family stake in Arcelor Mittal from a record £ 33 million last June to about £ 8.2 billion.

Mittal built his empire by acquiring and turning round ailing former state-owned mills across the world. He stunned the industry in 2006 with an audacious takeover bid for Arcelor, the biggest steel maker in the world after his own Mittal Steel, and secured the Luxembourg-based operation for £ 17.8 billion after an acrimonious battle.

The Rich List said, "To the family's £ 8.2 billion company stake we add £ 2.6 billion for dividends and property. Dividends from their steel interests were £ 1.38 billion in 2004 alone. In 2007, Arcelor Mittal paid £ 942 million to the family in dividends and to buy back shares.

"The figure for 2008 will be about £ 663 million. A separate investment portfolio is worth about £ 570 million. We reckon the family fortune has fallen by £ 16.9 billion."

The Duke of Westminster is the richest Briton and continues to occupy third position overall, next to Lakshmi Mittal and Roman Abramovich, with a fortune of £ 6.5 billion.

Besides Mittal, others listed in the category of Britain's 25 richest Asian millionaires are Anil Agarwal (mining - £ 600 million), Anurag Dikshit (internet gambling £ 559 million), Lord Paul and family (industry £ 500 million), Sir Anwar Pervez and family (Cash & Carry £ 489 million), Felix Grovit (Foreign exchange £ 430 million), Bhikhu and Vijay Patel (Pharmaceuticals £ 370 million) among others.

Jet Airlines Chairman Naresh Goyal and family has fortune worth £ 182 million, while Dr Kartar and Tej Lalvani (food supplements) has wealth worth £ 120 million.

Over the past five years the bottom line required for a place in the Rich List has risen from £ 30 million in 2003 to £ 80 million in 2008. Now a fortune of £ 55 million is sufficient to make the top 1,000.

The Rich List's combined wealth adds up to £ 258.27 billion, compared with £ 412.8 billion in 2008.

Meanwhile, the number of women in the top 1,000 has increased in 2009 to a record 100. A number of them have built up their own businesses, 20 such as Carole Nash, who carved out a niche insuring motorbikes and has made a fortune

of £ 65 million.

This year's top 10 are -- Lakshmi Mittal and family £ 10.8 billion, Roman Abramovich £ 7 billion, The Duke of Westminster £ 6.5 billion, Ernesto and Kirsty Bertareli £ 5 billion, Hans Rausing and family £ 4 billion, Sir Philip and Lady Green £ 3.8 billion, Charlene and Michel de Carvalho £ 3 billion, Sammy and Eyal Ofer £ 2.7 billion, John Fredriksen, Joe Lewis, Kirsten and Jorn Rausing and David and Simon Reuben (all £ 2.5 billion).

According to the Richlist 2009, America's Walton family (Retailing - Walmart) are the richest in the world with a fortune of £ 52.3 billion, followed by Germany's supermarkets owner Karl & Theo Albrecht £ 27.9 billion and Bill Gates, Microsoft chief, with £ 27.7 billion.