By, Sandy Rashty
1 min read
BySandy Rashty, Sandy Rashty
The wealthiest Jews in Britain were born abroad, according to the Sunday Times Super-Rich list, published on Sunday.
Jews made up around 20 per cent of the 104-strong rich-list — with a combined fortune of more than £67bn out of the total £301bn.
The highest earners were born in Russia, Iraq, South Africa and Israel. The only British-born Jew to rank in the top 25 was retail magnate Sir Philip Green, who, with his wife Tina, came in twenty-first with £3.88bn.
Investor Len Blavatnik, 56, was the fourth wealthiest with £10bn; Baghdad-born property developers David and Simon Reuben were in seventh place with £9bn; ninth was Russian oil magnate Roman Abramovich with £8.52bn; South African diamond magnate Nicky Oppenheimer and family came eighteenth with £4.57bn; and Israeli shipping magnate Idan Ofer was in twenty-fifth place, with £3.43bn.
Mr Ofer, a new entry, was accused of fleeing high taxes in Israel when he moved to London last year.
But, overall, more than half of the Jews on the list were born in Britain.
Among the 11 British-born Jews were philanthropist Mark Pears, with his family; Charedi Benzion Freshwater with his family; and media owner Richard Desmond — with respective fortunes of £2.3bn, £1.25bn and £1.2bn.
The world of football features prominently. As well as Chelsea’s owner Roman Abramovich, East-End born Tottenham Hotspur owner Joe Lewis was also listed (in 26th place) with £3.35bn.
The Russian Muslim magnate Alisher Usmanov, who is married to Jewish gymnastics coach Irina Viner, was placed second with £10.65bn.
In addition to Lady Green, American novelist Harriet Heyman, who is married to Sir Michael Moritz, and Anita Zabludowicz, wife of Poju Zabludowicz, were listed alongside their Jewish husbands.
The list revealed that the United Kingdom has more billionaires per capita than anywhere else in the world, with more billionaires in London than in any other city.
JEWS ON THE SUPER-RICH LIST
4 Len Blavatnik £10bn
7 David and Simon Reuben £9bn
9 Roman Abramovich £8.52bn
18 Nicky Oppenheimer £4.57bn
21 Sir Philip and Lady Green £3.88bn
25 Idan Ofer £3.43bn
26 Joe Lewis £3.35bn
29 Nathan Kirsh £3.1bn
30 Laurence and Francois Graff £3bn
35 Eddie and Sol Zakay £2.75bn
36 Ian and Richard Livingstone £2.6bn
43 Mark Pears and Family £2.3bn
52 Sir Michael Moritz and Harriet Heyman£1.68bn
55 Alan Howard £1.6bn
57 Poju and Anita Zabludowicz £1.5bn
78 Alexander Knaster £1.26bn
79 Benzion Freshwater and Family £1.25bn
80 Bernard Lewis and Family £1.25bn
82 Richard Desmond £1.2bn
99 Stephen Rubin and Family £1.02bn
