The personal fortune of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty has fallen by more than £200 million over the last year, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List. The couple's wealth is estimated at around £529 million, down from £730 million in 2022.
Ms. Murty owns a small stake in Infosys, a $64 billion (£52 billion) Indian IT firm co-founded by her billionaire father. Their shares have lost around a fifth of their value in the last year due to investors' concerns about the future of the Indian technology sector.
"The number of UK billionaires has fallen for the first time in 14 years due to political instability around Brexit and the pandemic," said Robert Watts, compiler of this year's list.
Meanwhile, Sir Jim Ratcliffe saw more than $23.6 billion added to his wealth after recently bidding on Manchester United football club. This increase took him to second place among Britain’s wealthiest individuals.
Sir Richard Branson also experienced losses as his family fell down to 44th place with an estimated worth of £4.2 billion – a decrease of approximately £1.8 billion since last year.
This year's rich list includes several well-known faces under age 35 such as Ed Sheeran, Adele, and Harry Styles who are among some of UK’s wealthiest young celebrities.
Gopi Hinduja occupies the top spot on this year’s rich list just days after his brother SP Hinduja passed away.
Despite some significant drops in individual fortunes for notable people like Sunak and Branson this past year, it appears that these wealthy individuals continue climbing back up towards prosperity even amid global uncertainties surrounding politics and pandemics alike