THE Duke of Westminster is the wealthiest British-born person in the UK according to the Sunday Times annual Rich List.
Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, 58, whose ancestral home is Eaton Hall, near Chester, is the third richest overall with estimated assets worth £6,750m – up £250m on a year ago.
He comes in after steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal (£22,450m) and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich (£7,400m who made his money in oil.
The Rich List says the Duke’s Grosvenor Group has regained its appetite for development after posting its worst figures for 16 years in 2008.
The group, which owns swathes of Mayfair, Belgravia and Knightsbridge, as well as Liverpool One retail centre, has seen its performance improve in 2009 with losses down sharply from £594m to £236m.
It is now concentrating on three big projects: the residential element of Liverpool One and sites in Australia and Canada.
Dot com multi-millionaire and Chester resident Simon Nixon, 42, is estimated as being the 201st richest person in Britain with assets of £344m – up £204m on the previous year’s list.
The co-founder of Moneysupermarket.com stood down as chief executive in 2008 but still retains a £194m stake. Mr Nixon is now concentrating on running a travel website and luxury holiday homes business. Most of the increase in his asset base is attributed to share sales, dividends and property.
Businessman Steve Morgan of Carden Hall, Clutton, is 190th in the list with estimated assets of £350m. Mr Morgan paid just £10 for Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2007, promising to invest £30m. His reward has been Premier League football this season. His fortune comes from the Redrow building company he founded in 1974. He made £240m before tax from share sales and had a £100m stake in the De Vere leisure group which owns Carden Park.
