The 23rd Sunday Times Rich List 2011 is due for publication in the UK this weekend, and the pre-publicity is already generating reams of coverage.
Among Britain’s great and good is a section where successful online gambling entrepreneurs are acknowledged, including:
* Topping the section, but still in only 90th position nationally, are online gambling millionaire father and daughter, Peter and Denise Coates, owners of Bet365, who share a GBP750 million fortune – up GBP250 million on last year. Peter Coates is also chairman of Stoke City Football Club.
* Party Gaming founders Ruth Parasol and Russ DeLeon have been less successful, their earnings being down GBP99 million but still owning an impressive fortune of GBP733 million between them.
* Fred and Peter Done from Betfred are third in the category with GBP660 million – no change from 2010.
* Another Party Gaming multi-millionaire is Vikrant Bhargava, currently worth an unchanged GBP230 million.
* Gibraltar-based Victor Chandler has a fortune worth GBP160 million, with no change from last year.
* Betfair founders Ed Wray and Andrew Black are worth GBP132 million and GBP125 million respectively.
* Richard Koch, also of Betfair, is down GBP37 million at GBP92 million.
* Tombola’s Phil Cronin has seen his fortune soar GBP27 million to reach GBP82 million this year.
The Rich List this year profiles the thousand wealthiest people in Britain and Ireland and will be published in a special 104-page magazine this weekend. The list, which is compiled annually by Philip Beresford, is based on identifiable wealth (land, property, other assets such as art and racehorses, or significant shares in publicly quoted companies), and excludes bank accounts (to which the paper has no access).
When it comes to the digital and online category, the richest businessman in the UK is Carphone Warehouse and Talk Talk mogul Charles Dunstone, who is Britain’s first digital billionaire.
Dunstone’s GBP1,000 million fortune puts him top of the list of digital and online retailers.