Mega-rich numbers double

THE number of people in Britain with more than £5 million in disposable wealth has doubled in the past five years, according to a report published yesterday.

The number of people who have earned their fortune now outweighs the number of those who inherited it, the study found.

It says while the slowdown of the stock market has hit investors, the mega-rich have largely avoided the impact by employing experts to work on their behalf.

The report examined the fortunes of individuals with more than £5 million in “liquid assets”, typically investments such as stocks and shares, and excluding property and off-shore accounts.

It found the number of “ultra-high net worth” individuals had risen from 1,500 in 1997 to 3,300 last year.

Forty percent of this super-rich group inherited their wealth, according to the study from market analyst Datamonitor.

The biggest groups among the 60% of “earners” include 333 who made their fortune from property, 314 from computers, 290 in construction, and 231 from arts and entertainment, including sports stars.

“The trend upward is particularly acute in computers and the arts and entertainment, which has been at the expense of traditional sectors such as industry and property,

although these remain a major source of wealth,” Datamonitor wealth analyst Oliver Guirdham said.

“It will be interesting to see what effect the stock market has had on the super-rich, but these people tend to have a high level of financial advice and teams of people working for their money,” Mr Guirdham said.