Sunday Times Rich List names fashion’s wealthiest

The annual Sunday Times Rich List is out and 10 out of the 25 richest people in Europe have made the cut thanks to making their earnings in the fashion, beauty or luxury goods industries. The richest person in Europe is Amancio Ortega, the Spanish founder and owner of Zara’s parent Inditex, whose net worth

is 38.5 billion pounds, closely followed by Stefan and Liselott Persson, members of the family that owns H&M, with 22.4 billion pounds, and LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton chief Bernard Arnault, whose net worth is calculated at 19.2 billion pounds.

Frenchman Bertrand Puech and his family, whose ancestors founded Hermès have a reported net worth of 14.8 billion pounds, while Luxottica founder and chairman, Leonardo del Vecchio is worth 11.4 billion pounds.

Other fashion names included in the top 25 includes Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, brothers with a controlling stake in Chanel, who are worth 11.2 billion pounds and Miuccia Prada and her husband Patrizio Bertelli, who are together worth 10.3 billion pounds.

Amancio Ortega is Europe’s richest person

In the UK, the Weston family, which owns Selfridges as well as Primark, strengthened its position as one of the richest names in fashion as their wealth increased 650 million pounds to 7.3 billion pounds. Arcadia owner Philip Green follows with a net worth of 3.8 billion pounds, while Francois-Henri Pinault and wife Salma Hayek, who moved to London this year, made the list with a wealth of 2.38 billion pounds.

Other fashion names to make the list include Mike Ashley, Sports Direct owner who increased his wealth by 1.45 billion pounds from 2013 to 3.75 billion pounds, as well as River Island founder Bernard Lewis, Matalan founder John Hargreaves, who also has a stake in Julien Macdonald and Nicole Farhi’s labels, Monsoon & Accessorize founders Peter Simon and family, and Philip Day who owns the Edinburgh Woollen Mill.

Image: Inditex - Amancio Ortega