Lakshmi Mittal, the India-born CEO of steel maker ArcelorMittal, has for the sixth year in a row, topped the list of Britain's 1,000 richest people

Mittal tops UK rich list sixth year in a row

Lakshmi Mittal, the India-born CEO of steel maker ArcelorMittal, has for the sixth year in a row, topped the list of Britain's 1,000 richest people

With the steel sector rebounding earlier this year, Mittal's wealth according to this list of the UK's rich and the powerful, doubled from 2009-levels to ufffd22.45 billion.

Mittal, who has been holding the number one rank since 2005, saw his wealth erode to the lowest level in 2009, when he continued to hold the first place but with wealth estimated at ufffd10.8 billion.

Agarwal's wealth in 2010 was estimated at ufffd4.1 billion and rose the sharpest in the top 10, with a jump of 583 per cent over 2009. Mittal's wealth rose by 108 per cent over 2009 estimates. Both Mittal and Agarwal continue to hold an Indian passport, despite shifting permanent residence to the UK.

Philip Beresford, compiler of the Rich List, in his lead article introducing this year's list wrote, "Fortunes in Britain are soaring as the world recovers from the 2008-09 crash. Stock markets are up, the banks are back from the brink and economic confidence is blossoming. As a result, the collective wealth of the 1,000 multimillionaires in the 2010 Sunday Times Rich List has climbed to ufffd335.5 billion, up ufffd77.27 billion on 2009. This is a 29.9 per cent increase, easily the biggest annual rise in the 22 years of the Rich List."

The list released today also comes just 11 days before Britain goes to polls to elect its next government that is fiercely fought between the ruling Labour, the Conservatives, and the Liberal Democrats, which is now seen as the second most popular party (ahead of Labour) by many opinion polls. Beresford also took a dig at the popular belief that the Labour party is pro-poor and pro-working class and said, "The first decade of new Labour was in fact a golden age for the rich in Britain. When the Blair administration came to power in 1997, the wealth of the then richest 1,000 stood at ufffd98.99 billion. By 2008, it had risen to nearly ufffd413 billion. After a savage bust in 2009 it is clearly heading northwards. This year's ufffd335.5 billion is nearly 239 per cent higher than in 1997."

The Rich List is based on the publisher's estimates of the minimum wealth of Britain's 1,000 richest people or families. Therefore, the paper also cautions that the actual size of their fortunes may be much larger than what it has estimated. Valuation were carried out at the beginning of January 2010. Only identifiable wealth are measured -- land, property, racehorses, art or significant shares in publicly quoted companies. It does not include bank account (as this detail remains out of access for general public) and small shareholdings in private equity portfolios.

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