The Sunday Times newspaper on Sunday, May 12, unveiled the traditional ranking of the richest people in Britain as of 2019. The top 10 of the list of 1000 names included three Russian businessmen at once - Alisher Usmanov, Roman Abramovich and Mikhail Fridman, taking places from eighth to tenth, respectively. Their cumulative fortune The Sunday Times estimates almost £ 33.5 billion. What else have we learned about the Russian participants in the British rating?

Usmanov: life after the "gunners"

Alisher Usmanov's fortune, according to The Sunday Times, has increased by £ 783 million over the year to £ 11.339 billion, which allowed him to maintain the eighth position in the ranking. Among its transactions, the publication highlights the sale of 30% to the American entrepreneur Stan Kronke at the London Arsenal football club for £ 550 million in the summer of 2018. Back in 2016, the Russian billionaire, on the contrary, increased its share in the asset: then 15% of Arsenal cost him and his business partner Farhad Moshiri £ 146 million. Despite the fact that the deal with Kronke Usmanov generated almost £ 300 million profit , the fact of selling shares put an end to the businessman’s long-standing ambition to win control of the club from an American, The Sunday Times states.

In Britain, Usmanov also owns the Sutton Place mansion in Surrey and is engaged in philanthropic activities - for example, it finances the restoration of the ship-museum Cutty Sark in London, the newspaper reminds.

Abramovich: communication without a visa

Let Roman Abramovich no longer have a British visa, his ties with the kingdom remain strong: for a year the fortune of a businessman grew by £ 1,888 billion - to £ 11,221 billion, he estimates The Sunday Times. Recently, an entrepreneur spent £ 30 million on a penthouse area of ​​more than 550 sq. M. m in the elite residential complex Chelsea Waterfront, offering beautiful views of London, including the home stadium "Chelsea" - "Stamford Bridge", the newspaper notes.

The newspaper reminds that after the British authorities did not renew Abramovich’s visa in April 2018 because of his proximity to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the businessman received Israeli citizenship. Because of this, he had to part with 24% of Channel One, but a 30 percent share in Evraz earned a significant income: Abramovich’s stake in the metallurgical holding costs £ 2.73 billion, adds The Sunday Times. Also, according to the newspaper, last year the businessman transferred $ 92 million to his former wife, Darya Zhukova, in the United States.

The Sunday Times recalls a memorable passage from a fresh book of journalists Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg about the English Premier League: Abramovich allegedly used to look at another London club, Tottenham, before buying Chelsea, but when he came to Tottenham High Road, he refused from the idea with the words: "Here is worse than in Omsk."

Friedman: a mansion with a story

A newcomer to the ranking, Mikhail Fridman (as estimated by The Sunday Times - £ 10.9 billion), in 2016 paid £ 65 million for Athlone House in north London, designed in the 19th century along the lines of the palace in Versailles. Since then, the businessman transforms the house and the surrounding area: here an underground pool appeared, a viewing platform with views of the British capital, a fruit terrace, yoga rooms and lily ponds, the publication lists. According to him, all these works cost £ 20 million and could double the value of the property.

“I was intrigued that this building almost 130 years ago was designed as a family mansion of a wealthy industrialist working in London. It’s like fate, that I, a businessman, years later, ended up in the same house on the same land, ”the newspaper quotes Friedman himself. The publication also reminds that children of an entrepreneur study in London.

Russian London

Three billionaires are not the only representatives of the business with roots from Russia in The Sunday Times list. The ranking also includes Badoo founder Andrei Andreev F 44, business partner of Abramovich Yevgeny Shvidler, ex-president of Togliattiazot Vladimir Makhlai, president of Inteco Management Elena Baturina F 81, ex-head of the Bank of Moscow Andrei Borodin and other investors and entrepreneurs.

The Sri and Gopi Hindui brothers-investors led the ranking of the richest Britons, and the brothers David and Simon Ruben and Sir Jim Ratcliffe also made the top three. In fourth place on the list is Leonard Blavatnik.

Billionaires on the way out

The Sunday Times notes that British billionaires fear that the next prime minister of the country will be Jeremy Corbin, the Labor leader with extreme left-wing economic views. His arrival in the government, which in the business environment is called "CorbiGeddon," can lead to an increase in the tax burden on the richest.

A potential consequence of pressure on billionaires is an outflow of capital of up to £ 1 trillion from the country, estimates the publication: entrepreneurs will find a more efficient tax residence, and at the same time will take away from Britain and assets.