Sir Paul McCartney Becomes First British Musician Billionaire

Former Beatles' member Sir Paul McCartney has become the first British musician whose wealth has exceeded £1 billion. This was reported by the BBC, citing the annual Sunday Times Rich List, which includes Britons with assets over £350 million.

Over the past year, the 81-year-old musician and composer increased his wealth by £50 million thanks to touring, income from his back catalogue, and Beyoncé's cover of his classic song "Blackbird," written in 1968.

The richest individuals in the UK have been identified as the family of industrial magnate Gopi Hinduja, whose wealth has reached a record £37.2 billion in the history of The Sunday Times Rich List.

Among other celebrities on the list are rock musician Sir Elton John, composer Lord Lloyd-Webber, former footballer David Beckham with his wife, former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, and multiple Formula 1 World Champion Sir Lewis Hamilton, who has entered the list for the first time.

Not all the wealthy individuals on the list managed to increase their fortunes over the year. For example, due to a challenging year for Virgin Money and space tourism company Virgin Galactic, Sir Richard Branson's wealth fell to £2.4 billion, the level it was in 2000.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who bought a 27.7% stake in Manchester United in February for approximately £1.25 billion, suffered "significant losses" and found himself among the most impoverished wealthy individuals on the 2024 list.

Overall, this year's list of the richest individuals in the UK includes 350 people and families with a combined wealth of £795.3 billion, which, according to The Sunday Times, exceeds the GDP of Poland.

According to Robert Watts, compiler of the UK's Rich List, this year's list indicates that "the billionaire boom in Britain is over."

"Many of our home-grown entrepreneurs have seen their fortunes fall, and some of the global super-rich who once came here are moving elsewhere. We will have to wait and see if we have reached peak billionaire and what this means for our economy," said Robert Watts, adding that thousands of Britons rely to some extent on the ultra-wealthy residents of the country.

It is worth noting that The Gaze previously reported that Taylor Swift has officially joined the Forbes billionaires list solely due to her music.