According to the official Rich List, compiled by the Sunday Times and released every April, the last year has not been kind to the world’s richest people – many of which saw the biggest drop in their fortunes since the 2008 financial crisis.

This year’s biggest faller was steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, who has lost around 75 percent of his fortune since 2008 — with his net worth falling from £27.7 billion to £7.12 billion in 2016. The Queen also had a bad year, failing to make the top 300 for the second consecutive year.

Odey Asset Management founder Crispin Odey saw his wealth drop after Odey European fund’s worth fell by over 30 per cent in the last year, and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich joined the list of losers after seeing his fortune drop to just £870 million.

However, winners include property tycoon brothers David and Simon Reuben, owners of London’s Millbank Tower and the John Lewis flagship store, whose wealth rose £3.4 billion in 2016. The inventor of the hoover and Rich List regular Sir James Dyson saw a 43 percent rise in wealth, making him the first self-made Briton to break the £5 billion barrier – and Denise Coates became Britain’s richest self-made woman, worth more than £3.7 billion after turning her small chain of betting shops into online gambling giant Bet365.

2016 was a great year for women, seeing a record 125 enter the rich list, but a tough year for everyone else; entrants had to have at least £103 million to make it on to the list, up from £100 million last year.

Miranda Wadham on 25/04/2016