Who are Scotland’s wealthiest business people?

FROM retail, food production, the energy sector and property, Scotland is now home to a record nine billionaires according to this year’s Sunday Times Rich List. Here’s a rundown of some of the wealthiest people to call Scotland home.
By SOFIANE KENNOUCHE
Published 19th Oct 2015, 17:24 BST
The last bottle of Glenfiddich Rare Collection 1937, the world's oldest single malt. Descendents of Glenfiddch Scotland have a combined wealth of £1.9billion. Picture John PaulThe last bottle of Glenfiddich Rare Collection 1937, the world's oldest single malt. Descendents of Glenfiddch Scotland have a combined wealth of £1.9billion. Picture John Paul
The last bottle of Glenfiddich Rare Collection 1937, the world's oldest single malt. Descendents of Glenfiddch Scotland have a combined wealth of £1.9billion. Picture John Paul

THE GRANT/GORDON FAMILY

Topping Scotland’s rich list are the Grant/Gordon family, who head the business that produce the single malt whisky Glenfiddich. Descendants of founder William Grant run the family-owned business (William Grant and sons) to this day, which has amassed the sum of £1.9bn in this year’s list.

MAHDI AL-TAJIR

Emirati businessman Mahdi al-Tajir, who can can count Highland Spring as one of his many business interests, is Scotland’s second wealthiest business person with reserves of £1.67bn. The ex-UAE ambassador to the UK currently owns Perthshire’s Keir House, which dates from the 16th century and was sold to him in 1975.

SIR IAN WOOD

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Sir Ian Wood, a native of Aberdeen who built his £1.385bn fortune in fishing and latterly North Sea oil and gas, takes the third spot. He, like al-Tajir, also owns a residence in Perth and stepped down from the forefront of his company’s operations in 2012.

MOHAMMAD AL-FAYED

Former Harrods owner Mohammad Al-Fayed owns the Balnagown Estate in Kildary, having spent part of his £1.3bn fortune on renovating and redesigning the ruins into a popular tourist getaway.

THE THOMPSON FAMILY

The Thomson family, who still own publishing colossus DC Thomson to this day have banked £1.27bn.

TROND AND MARIT MOHN

Trond and Marit Mohn have built a £1.2bn Norwegian pump firm out of Buckie in Moray.

JIM MCCOLL

Jim McColl, an ex-employee of Clyde Blowers who then bought out the company on the way to his £1.06bn fortune, holds seventh place in the list.

SIR BRIAN SOUTER AND ANN GLOAG

Brother and sister duo Sir Brian Souter and Ann Gloag from Perth established the foundations of their £1.04bn Stagecoach empire during the 1980s using their father’s redundancy money.

CHRISTIAN SALVESEN

Taking the final spot on the list is Christian Salvesen, whose eponymous whaling-cum-shipping network has left him with £1bn fortune as Scotland’s ninth richest business person.

This year’s Rich List topper is Len Blavatnik, whose portfolio includes the Warner Music Group and an estimated fortune of £13.17bn, making him Britain’s richest man.

Related topics:Ian WoodScotlandLen Blavatnik