London: Capital of the World's Super-Rich

A new study of the super-rich finds that London has become the capital of the world’s wealthiest, with more billionaires than any other city in the world.

The Sunday Times, which published the list, says the city has 72 residents whose fortune exceed £1 billion ($1.6 billion) — more than Moscow, at 48, or New York, at 43.

The newspaper reports that Britain also has more billionaires per head than any other country, with one in billionaire for every 607,000 Britons versus one for every 1 million or so Americans. It was the first time the newspaper has compared Britain’s overall standing to that of other countries.

Indian-born brothers Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja top the list, with a 11.9-billion pound fortune. The two run the Hinduja Group conglomerate.

Alisher Usmanov, last year’s wealthiest, is now in second place with £10.65bn due to the fluctuating value of the Russian rouble currency. The uncertainty between Russia and Ukraine may also have hurt football-fan and oligarch Roman Abramovich, who slipped from fifth to ninth place.

The Times reports that John Caudwell, “whose mobile phone empire took him from the back streets of Stoke-on-Trent to a fortune of £1.5bn and a £300m Mayfair home”, explained why London attracts so many billionaires: “[It] is unbelievably accepting of different wealths. You’ve got opulent wealth right next to very ordinary, working-class people.”

Associated Press contributed to this report