How the 2026 Rich List explains our broken economy

Billionaire wealth is bonkers...

The richest 350 individuals and families in the UK now hold over £784 billion — that’s more wealth than 50% of the UK population (35 million people) and more than the UK spends annually on healthcare, education, defence, policing and housing combined.

The 1.4% growth in the Rich List’s hoarded fortunes means a single person with a net worth of £1bn would be £14 million better off at the end of the year, even after their lavish annual expenses. Despite the Times’ attempt to pitch this as a “stagnation”, the truth is this represents an enormous growth— £14 million is 7x more than the average person will spend in their whole lifetime. The roughly 1% average increase seen in the last 4 years is, more accurately, a less steep increase, relative to the absurd, astronomical growth of the Rich List’s fortunes from 2000 to 2022, which grew around 600%.

Are you more than 600% better off than you were 27 years ago? Probably not, given that those who work for a living have seen a much lower average increase. Once cost of living increases and inflation are accounted for, real wages have only risen by around 12% since 2000. And once you take into account the uneven rise in costs— hitting basics like food and energy and housing hardest — many of us may actually be worse off. The truth is we’ve had‘stagnation’ for ordinary people, while the richest have had a bonanza.

The top 10 (ignoring the new entry) have seen their personal wealth climb by £18,177,000,000 this year. That’s roughly twice what the government plans to raise by freezing tax thresholds, choosing to make workers and those on low incomes pay more, while the super-rich are allowed to get richer and richer.

The richest on the Rich List aren’t paying the most tax…

Only three of the top 10 richest people in the UK were featured in the top 100 taxpayers this year, respectively: the Weston family (5th and 27th), Nik Storonsky (7th and 20th), and Alex Gerko (8th and 2nd). This is nonsensical and unacceptable. Why are the very richest people not paying the most tax?

It’s not that every super‑rich person is illegally dodging tax. Although the National Audit Office (NAO) has said that even the massive £1.9 Billion estimate of annual mega-rich tax dodging is likely an enormous underestimate. It’s also not just down to so-called ‘patriots’ like Sir Jim Ratcliffe parking themselves in tax havens like Monaco for half the year, saving Jim— and costing us— around £4 Billion in unpaid tax. Ultimately it’s because our tax system is designed to tax workers, and reward hoarders.

The top tax band on workers’ income is 45%, but if your income comes from owning stuff— shares, gold, property portfolios— it’s taxed at just 24%. Plus asset‑owners don’t pay National Insurance Contributions (NICs) on their income either. And the 24% they do pay is only collected when (or if) they sell, because Capital Gains Tax (CGT) applies only to realised gains. Most of the time the mega-rich are letting their investments ride, so most years their wealth is piling up, and they’re not paying any tax on it at all.

Now, imagine if we equalised Capital Gains Tax with income tax, closed the loopholes, and charged National Insurance Contributions on profits from investments. And if we introduced a 2% tax on wealth over £10m every billionaire’s tax bill would be at least £19.8m a year— meaning they’d all appear on the Tax List, as they should. And they’re so rich most of them wouldn’t even feel it. The tax revenue from just the richest 15 people would raise enough to cut household energy bills by an average of £150 a year.

We could use these tax revenues to invest in building world-class public services like a functional NHS to keep us all healthy, and growth-facilitating infrastructure like high-speed rail, housing and renewable energy, to make the UK a place where everyone can thrive. So why aren’t these reforms happening?

But the richest on the Rich List are some of the biggest political donors...

Only one of the 6 richest families in the UK is in the top 100 tax payers — but all of them are substantial political donors. In fact, six out of the top 10 biggest UK political donations from individuals or businesses ahead of the 2024 election came from those on the Rich List— including a £10 million donation to the Conservatives from Frank Hester, and £2.5 million from Lord Sainsbury to the victorious Labour campaign.

Number one, Prakash Hinduja gave the Conservatives £50,000 in 2024, days after being convicted of exploiting domestic staff in Switzerland. The Reuben brothers, long‑time Conservative backers, handed £100,000 to Reform UK this year. Leonard Blavatnik, sanctioned in Ukraine for his links to the Russian state, has poured millions into anti‑tax politicians and groups across the UK, Europe and the US. Idan Ofer — named in the Pandora Papers and now making money shipping arms to Israel — has donated heavily to UKIP, the Conservatives, and gave Robert Jenrick £70,000 this year despite a previous cash‑for‑favours scandal.The only top‑five family not donating recently is the Westons — perhaps related to their guilty verdict in 2010 for breaking charity law after funnelling nearly £1m to the Conservatives through their own foundation.

And finally, you’ve probably heard about Christopher Harborne’s generosity in the news already. The Crypto billionaire, featuring sixth on the Rich List, is behind the £5 million undeclared gift to Nigel Farage currently under investigation. And he also gave £9 million to Reform last year, the biggest UK political donation ever. Harborne, who lives in Thailand, won’t be able to make any more mega-donations as the government has now tightened rules on foreign cash entering UK political parties. Although he’s said the new rules won’t stop him.

Given the huge sums of cash flowing from those at the top of the Rich List into the campaigns of those vying to run the government and make policy, perhaps it’s unsurprising our tax system continues to benefit the mega-rich and their mega-corporations. Because they’re spending millions to keep it that way.

The 10 biggest individual political donors in 2024 (ahead of the last election) removing unions.