Russian Billionaire, Chelsea Owner Abramovich Second on U.K. Rich List

Roman Abramovich has seen his fortune grow by more than 3 billion pounds in the last year alone with the Chelsea FC owner now sitting on a total wealth of almost 11 billion pounds, Press Association quotes the Sunday Times Rich List 2006-07.

The latest edition of the who’s who of the rich and richer found that the Russian tycoon has amassed an estimated 10.8 billion pounds, up from a meagre 7.5 billion pounds in the 2005-06 edition.

Despite the tidy sum, the blues man only comes second in the list behind steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, worth an estimated 13.2 billion pounds.

But the gap is narrowing, according to the latest figures.

Despite ploughing an estimated 440 million pounds into his favorite football club, Abramovich needs to add just 2.4 billion pounds to become the wealthiest man in the UK.

Away from the battle for the top slot, the list contains evidence that splitting up can be a serious hazard to your financial wealth.

John Charman, one of the stars of the London insurance market, is down to his last 82 million pounds due to a 48 million pounds divorce settlement.

Beatles’ legend Sir Paul McCartney could face the same prospect.

His 825 million ponds fortune could be reduced by up to 200 million ponds as a result of his bitter separation from Heather Mills.

It would, compilers of the list warn, knock him out of the top 100 for the first time.

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