Paul McCartney has become the first UK musician to be named a billionaire, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.
The Beatles legend was named a billionaire by the Sunday Times Rich List, having added to his wealth by £50 million over the past year with touring.
McCartney’s newly found billionaire status can be put down to the lucrative value of his back catalogue, as well as Beyoncé’s of his 1968 classic hit, Blackbird.
Speaking last month, Paul McCartney lauded Beyoncé for her cover of his track, which also featured on her album, Cowboy Carter.
“I am so happy with @beyonce’s version of my song Blackbird”, he said on social media. “I think she does a magnificent version of it and it reinforces the civil rights message that inspired me to write the song in the first place”.
Rich List Compiler On The End To “Britain’s billionaire boom”
The rich list consists of 350 people, with their overall wealth holding a combine total of £795.3bn.
According to the Sunday Times Rich List, Gopi Hinduja and his family were named the richest people in the UK. Their wealth has surpassed £37.2bn, their largest fortune ever recorded by the publication.
According to the compiler of The Sunday Times Rich List Robert Watts, this list suggests that “Britain’s billionaire boom has come to an end”.
He said, “Many of our home-grown entrepreneurs have seen their fortunes fall and some of the global super rich who came here are moving away”.
Mr Watts also added that “thousands of British livelihoods rely on the super-rich to some extent”.
“We’ll have to wait and see whether we have now reached peak billionaire, and what that means for our economy”.
“considerable losses”
While other people have prospered, it was also reported that several household names reported “considerable losses” this year.
In a difficult year for Virgin Money and space tourism company Galactic, Sir Richard Branson’s wealth has fallen to £2.4bn. This the level of wealth he had in 2000.
Other names to report financial losses is Sir Jim Radcliffe who also suffered “considerable losses”, of a reported decline £6.16bn which were put down to a decrease in profits at Ineos Groups.
Mr Radcliffe recently purchased a 27.7% stake in Manchester United.
Ineos director Andy Currie, and Sir James Dyson also reported a decrease in wealth.
Despite these losses, Sir Jim Radcliffe and Dyson still remain in the UK’s Top Five Rich List.
The list also includes Jon and Susie Seaton, who founded education publisher Twinkl, as well as Multiverse founder Euan Blair, the eldest son of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Another newcomer to the list also includes F1 driver Lewis Hamilton and Graham King who earned his wealth from holiday parks, inheritance and housing asylum seekers for the government.
“These may be harder times to create wealth, but The Sunday Times Rich List continues to unearth entrepreneurs building fortunes in diverse and often surprising ways”, Mr Watts said.
“This year’s new entries include people who have made money from artificial intelligence and virtual worlds as well as plumbing supplies and teaching aids”.
Earlier this week, Ringo Starr also revealed that The Beatles would have made fewer albums if it was not for the “workaholic” Paul McCartney. More on that here.
