May 20, 2022 7.00 pm This story is over 22 months old

Lincolnshire landowner Sir James Dyson jumps to 2nd in Sunday Times Rich List

His wealth grew exponentially in the past year
By Local Democracy Reporter

James Dyson, Lincolnshire’s primary landowner, has seen his wealth soar by almost £7 billion in the past year, as he rises two places to 2nd in The Sunday Times Rich List 2022.

The annual Sunday Times Rich List looks at the 250 wealthiest people and families in the country year on year. The combined wealth of UK billionaires this year is £653.122 billion, a rise of 9.4% from last year’s list.

According to the figures there are 177 billionaires in the UK, which is a new record. Among those names include retail tycoon Mike Ashley, business magnate Richard Branson, and owner of more land than the Queen, James Dyson.

James Dyson is widely recognised as the inventor and founder of Dyson Ltd, which dominated the vacuum cleaner market for years, but his connections in Lincolnshire are farmland based.

He owns the Norton and Carington estates in our county, as well as the 3,000 acre Cranwell and Roxholme estate, saying he enjoys farming in Lincolnshire.

Dyson’s worth has grown by £6.7 billion in the past year, seeing him leap from fourth on the 2021 list to 2nd this time round. His wealth now stands at an astonishing £23 billion, though he is more than £5 billion shy of the leader.

The list is topped by Sri and Gopi Hinduja and family, Indian-born British billionaires who own transnational conglomerate Hinduja Group. Their source of wealth, according to the Rich List, is industry and finance, and it has seen a rise of £11.472 billion in the past year alone.

A notable absentee from the top 20 is former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, who saw his wealth affected by sanctions imposed upon Russia following the invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.

The Sunday Times’ list reports Abramovich has lost £6.101 billion of his wealth in the past year, which works out at around half of his financial worth.