The Sunday Times UK Rich List revealed David and Simon Reuben as being the UK’s richest people. The brothers own Global Switch a data centre operator which they acquired as part of a $585m deal in 2004. The Sunday Times put a value on Global Switch of at least £4.5bn. The Reuben Brothers also operate data centres in Thurrock, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Newark with floorspace of around 200,000 sq ft. As well as huge property and other interests the brothers are known to invest in technology firms around the world. The Sunday Times list said they were worth £13.1bn, an increase of £3.4bn over last year, making them the richest people in the UK.
The next big tech winners on the list who are tech related come from the online gambling world. At number 44 is Teddy Sagi, £2.47bn. His Playtech firm is a gaming software firm which supplies technology for online casinos and betting sites. Online gambling rich feature high up on the list including Denise, John and Peter Coates who own Bet365.com at number 24, £3.765bn; at number 38 is Mark Scheinberg worth £2.87bn who sold Pokerstars in £3.3bn in 2014.
The founder of moneysupermarket.com, Simon Nixon is valued at £1.03bn . Mr Nixon, number 113 on the list sold his shares since floatation.
At 115 on the list we get our first listing of money made from ‘Computers’. Sir Terry Matthews built and sold Newbridge Networks. He is worth £1.012bn and owns Swansea City Football Club and Celtic Manor Resort.
Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar are joint number 124 having set up Atlassian a workflow management software firm. Each are said to be worth £906m
Sir Peter Rigby made his money selling computers in the 1980s and 1990s, now said to be worth £550m
At number 248 comes Mike Lynch, founder of Invoke Capital (read CBR’s interview wtih Mr Lynch on How to build a billion pound software business in the UK) who sold Autonomy in 2011 to HP for £6.5bn. Mr Lynch is said to be worth £470m
Details on rich listers such as Sir Peter Ogden (£370m) young UK rich listers, and the world’s tech billionaires, Gates, Zuckerberg, Bezos, Page et al can be found at the searchable list at thesundaytimes.co.uk/richlist – registration, subscription required.
