Record number of Billionaires living in Scotland

Sir Ian Wood is one of the many billioniares who feature on the list. Picture: TSPL

A total of 104 billionaires are now based in the country – more than triple the number a decade ago – with a combined wealth of £301 billion.

Scotland claims seven people among the super rich, one up from last year, according to the Sunday Times Super-Rich list.

Britain now claims more billionaires per head of population than any other country, while London’s total of 72 sterling billionaires is more than any other city in the world, the study found.

Indian-born brothers Sri and Gopi Hinduja top the list of the UK’s billionaires with a fortune of £11.9bn.

The London-based pair, who run the global conglomerate Hinduja Group, saw their wealth rise by £1.3bn in the past year.

They replaced Russian business magnate Alisher Usmanov at the top after the Arsenal shareholder saw his fortune fall to £10.65bn.

The richest Briton, the Duke of Westminster, is ranked tenth on the list after his fortune rose to £8.5bn.

The Grant-Gordon whisky family are the richest Scots on the list with a fortune of £1.9bn, a figure which puts them 49th on the UK list.

The Banffshire distiller’s owners have ousted Mahdi al-Tajir from the top spot in Scotland.

Mr al-Tajir, whose interests include a development of luxury homes at Gleneagles, is worth £1.67bn which gives him the UK 53rd slot, according to the list.

Sitting at number 102 is Sir Brian Souter and Ann Gloag, the siblings who founded the Stagecoach transport empire, who have become members of the billionaire club for the first time. They share a fortune of £1bn – an increase of £270 million on last year.

Other Scots on the super-rich list are Sir Ian Wood and family whose £1.32bn fortune comes from oil services and fishing, (number 73 on the UK list) and the Thomson family, owners of publisher DC Thomson, who are worth £1.2bn and currently 81st on the rich list.

At number 75 is Former Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed, who owns an estate in Scotland, and is estimated to be worth £1.3bn.

Sharing the £1bn spot with the Stagecoach empire, and also at number 102 is Jim McColl, of engineering business Clyde Blowers, who has an estimated fortune of £1bn.

Last year, 88 billionaires were living in the UK, worth a total of more than £245bn. In 2004, the number of billionaires in Britain was 30, with a combined wealth of £65bn, it said.

Among the new members of the billionaire club is West End producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh, who saw his fortune rise by £175m in the last year and is now worth £1bn, the survey found.

Meanwhile, it emerged yesterday that Ms Gloag has vowed to give half of her £500m fortune to charity by the time she dies. The 71-year-old joined the Bill Gates Giving Pledge and has already given money to projects in Africa.

In a letter published by the charity, Ms Gloag said: “Through my foundations, I hope to continue to contribute to improving the lives of women and children for years to come and I am honoured to join the Giving Pledge.”