The richest person in the UK in 2026 is from the Hinduja family. According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2026, Sanjay and Dheeraj Hinduja and their family top the rankings with an estimated net worth of £38 billion, making them Britain’s wealthiest family for another year.
The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 was published on May 15, 2026, with the Hindujas retaining the top spot by a margin of £10 billion over the second-ranked family. While many reports simply state that the Hinduja family topped the Rich List or highlight Gopichand (GP) Hinduja’s legacy, the story behind the family’s leadership, business empire, succession following GP’s death in November 2025, and the events leading up to the 2026 rankings provides much deeper insight than the headline figure alone.
- Sanjay and Dheeraj Hinduja and family top the Sunday Times Rich List 2026 with £38 billion.
- Sanjay and Dheeraj are the sons of Gopichand Hinduja, known as GP, who died in a London hospital on November 4, 2025, aged 85.
- The four Hinduja brothers, Srichand, Gopichand, Prakash, and Ashok, built the group together. Srichand died in May 2023, and Gopichand died in November 2025.
- The Hinduja Group operates across automotive, banking, energy, media, real estate, and healthcare in dozens of countries.
- The UK’s 350 richest people now hold a combined £784 billion, roughly a quarter of UK GDP.
- Sir James Dyson had the biggest fall on the list, with his fortune declining from £20 billion to £12 billion after a 13.5% revenue decline at his consumer electricals group, partly attributed to Trump’s tariffs.
The Hinduja Family: Who Is Actually Who
The Hinduja Group was started by Parmanand Deepchand Hinduja and built into a global operation by his four sons. Srichand was the eldest, followed by Gopichand, Prakash, and Ashok. They ran everything together under a family philosophy they described as “four bodies, one soul.”
Srichand died in May 2023. Gopichand, the second brother, died in a London hospital on November 4, 2025, at the age of 85 after a prolonged illness. Prakash still oversees the group’s European operations from London, while Ashok manages the Indian segment from Mumbai.
Sanjay and Dheeraj, the brothers now leading the group’s biggest businesses, are Gopichand’s sons. That is an important detail because the family is large, and the different branches each run different parts of the empire. Sanjay chairs Gulf Oil International, while Dheeraj chairs Ashok Leyland. Their cousin Shom, Prakash’s son, manages Hinduja Renewables. Srichand’s daughters, Shanu and Vinoo, oversee Hinduja Bank Switzerland and the Hinduja Foundation.
It has not always been smooth. A dispute over ownership of Hinduja Bank Switzerland went to the UK courts in 2020, with Srichand’s side in one camp and Gopichand, Prakash, and Ashok in the other. The group’s businesses continued operating throughout the dispute.
GP joined the family business in 1959 after graduating from Jai Hind College in Mumbai. He and Srichand moved to London in the 1980s, where the group’s transformation accelerated. Gulf Oil was acquired in 1984, followed by Ashok Leyland three years later, one of the first major NRI-led acquisitions of an Indian company and one of corporate India’s most cited turnaround stories. GP is survived by his wife Sunita, his sons Sanjay and Dheeraj, and his daughter Rita.
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What £38 Billion Actually Looks Like?
The Hinduja Group is not a single company. It spans Ashok Leyland, Gulf Oil, IndusInd Bank, Hinduja Global Solutions, media and entertainment, healthcare through hospitals in India, and significant London real estate. Their Carlton House Terrace mansion near Buckingham Palace measures 67,000 square feet. The Old War Office, redeveloped into a Raffles Hotel at a cost of around £1.5 billion, opened in September 2023.
The Sunday Times figures are based on publicly identifiable assets. What the family holds across private vehicles, trusts, and unlisted entities extends considerably beyond published estimates.
Top 10 List of The Richest Person In The UK
All figures are from the Sunday Times Rich List published on May 15, 2026.
| Rank | Name | Estimated Net Worth | Primary Business / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sanjay And Dheeraj Hinduja And Family | £38 Billion | Chair the Hinduja Group, a global conglomerate with businesses across automotive, banking, energy, media, real estate, healthcare, and technology. |
| 2 | David And Simon Reuben And Family | £27.971 Billion | Property and private equity. Famously say very little publicly. |
| 3 | Sir Leonard Blavatnik | £26.852 Billion | Owns Warner Music Group among other media, energy, and real estate investments. |
| 4 | Idan Ofer | £24.481 Billion | Shipping, energy, and industrial holdings. |
| 5 | Guy, George, Alannah And Galen Weston And Family | £18.939 Billion | Built largely through ABF, Primark’s parent company. |
| 6 | Christopher Harborne | £18.177 Billion | New entry this year. Made a £9 million donation to Reform UK in August 2025, the largest single political donation from a living person in UK history. |
| 7 | Nik Storonsky | £16.411 Billion | Founder of Revolut. |
| 8 | Alex Gerko | £16.006 Billion | Founder of XTX Markets. |
| 9 | Sir Jim Ratcliffe | £15.194 Billion | Founder of Ineos and minority shareholder in Manchester United. |
| 10 | Igor And Dmitry Bukhman | £14.26 Billion | Founders of Playrix, one of Europe’s biggest mobile gaming companies. |
Table Source: Wikipedia. Sunday Times Rich List 2026.
What The 2026 Rich List Actually Tells You?
The 350 richest people in the UK now share £784 billion between them. That is a 1.4% increase on last year and roughly equivalent to a quarter of UK GDP, according to the list’s editor, Robert Watts.
One in six people who appeared on the 2025 list did not make it onto the 2026 edition. The Sunday Times attributed this to wealthy individuals leaving the UK after Rachel Reeves’s non-domicile tax changes came into effect in 2025.
James Dyson experienced the largest decline among those near the top of the list, falling from fourth to thirteenth place as his fortune dropped from £20 billion to £12 billion. Robert Watts cited a 13.5% decline in revenue at Dyson’s consumer electricals group over two years, with Trump’s tariffs identified as a contributing factor. Dyson’s company valuation was revised to £8 billion, with an additional £4 billion attributed to assets outside the business, including more than 36,000 acres of farmland. He had previously criticized Rachel Reeves’s inheritance tax changes.
David Beckham became Britain’s first official billionaire sportsman. He and Victoria Beckham now have a combined fortune of £1.185 billion, up from £500 million the previous year. Growth came primarily from Inter Miami, fashion, and media ventures. The UK recorded 157 billionaires in 2026, up from 156 the previous year.
FAQs
Q1. Who Is The Richest Person In The UK Right Now?
The Hinduja family. Sanjay and Dheeraj Hinduja sit at the top of the Sunday Times Rich List 2026 with £38 billion. They are the sons of Gopichand Hinduja, who had topped the list in previous years before he died in November 2025.
Q2. Who Was Gopichand Hinduja?
GP was the second of the four Hinduja brothers and one of the people most responsible for transforming the family’s trading business into a global enterprise. He joined the business in 1959, helped acquire Gulf Oil and Ashok Leyland in the 1980s, and spent most of his career based in London. He died on November 4, 2025, aged 85. His sons Sanjay and Dheeraj now lead the group’s biggest businesses.
Q3. Who Exactly Are Sanjay And Dheeraj Hinduja?
They are Gopichand Hinduja’s sons and should not be confused with other Hinduja cousins in the third generation. Sanjay chairs Gulf Oil International, while Dheeraj chairs Ashok Leyland. They are now the family members most publicly associated with running the group.
Q4. What Is The Hinduja Group?
The Hinduja Group is not a single company. It operates across Ashok Leyland, Gulf Oil, IndusInd Bank, Hinduja Global Solutions, media businesses, hospitals in India, and significant London real estate, including the Raffles Hotel at the Old War Office. Its operations span dozens of countries.
Q5. Why Did Dyson Drop So Far On The List?
Dyson’s consumer electricals revenue declined by 13.5% over two years. Trump’s tariffs were cited as a contributing factor, resulting in the company’s valuation being revised down to £8 billion, which contributed to his fall from fourth to thirteenth place.
Q6. How Many Billionaires Does The UK Have In 2026?
The UK has 157 billionaires in 2026, up from 156 the previous year. This marked a reversal of the recent declining trend, although one in six people from the previous year’s list dropped off entirely, largely because wealthy residents left following the non-dom tax changes.
Sources & References
- Yahoo Finance. (2026). Rich List 2026: Who are the wealthiest people in the UK?
- British Brief. (2026). Sunday Times Rich List 2026: UK’s top 20 wealthiest people. British Brief Politics.
- Business Matters. (2026). Sunday Times Rich List 2026: Britain’s billionaire exodus accelerates.
- Wikipedia. (2026). Sunday Times Rich List 2026.
- Business Standard. (2025). Hinduja Group Chairman Gopichand Hinduja passes away aged 85. Business Standard India News.
- Gulf News. (2025). Who will succeed Gopichand Hinduja? Inside the battle for a $15 billion empire. Gulf News Business.
- Insider Media. (2025). Sir James Dyson retains top spot on South West Rich List but posts large fall in wealth.
- Hinduja Group. (2025). Hinduja Group family tree. Hinduja Group Official Website.
- Wikipedia. (2025). Gopichand Hinduja.
- Forbes. (2020, June 29). The troubled house of the billionaire Hinduja brothers.
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