Arc owners increase their wealth by £5.5 billion following spending spree

David and Simon Reuben, the billionaire owners of Arena Racing Company (Arc), have increased their wealth by £5.465 billion in the last year, according to the new Sunday Times Rich List.

The Reuben brothers, who own 16 racecourses and four greyhound tracks under the Arc banner, retained their Rich List runner-up position with net worth estimated at £21.465bn. Investor and businessman Sir Leonard Blavatnik topped the list ahead of the Reubens at £23bn.

The Reuben brothers, who "embarked on a buying spree during the pandemic" according to the Sunday Times, own a multitude of businesses in addition to Arc and have invested heavily in property in Britain and the US.

Kirsten and Jorn Rausing, seventh on the list (down one from sixth last year), have added £900m to their net worth of £13bn, while Denise, John and Peter Coates, the family behind bet365, have added £1.282bn to take their estimated wealth to a total of £8.448bn, yet dropped one spot in the list to 17th overall.

Lord Bamford and family, who own JCB as well as one of the sport's premier owner-breeder operations, dropped 11 places to 38 after the loss of £105m in the last year, taking their wealth to £4.595bn.

The estimated net worth of Peter Hargreaves, joint-owner of Dunelight and Beacon Lodge, rose £10m to £2.41bn as the financial services provider dropped from 58th to 69th.

Fred and Peter Done, who own Betfred, fell 14 places to 137th on the list despite adding £35m to their net worth, which now sits at £1.235bn, while three-time Grand National-winning owner Trevor Hemmings also dropped 12 places to 155th despite his estimated wealth rising £90m to £1.115bn.

Patricia Thompson: the Cheveley Park Stud owner's wealth is a new entry in the top 250Credit: Edward Whitaker

Patricia Thompson and family, whose Cheveley Park Stud has enjoyed tremendous success across both codes in recent years, were a new entry on the top 250 list at 189 with £869m, while the Vestey family were 224th with £717m (down £4m), one spot above Sir Evelyn and Lady de Rothschild on £702m.

The Rich List is confined to British citizens and foreigners based in Britain with foreigners based abroad excluded such as the Maktoum and Al Thani families.

Sunday Times Rich List: the top ten

1 Sir Leonard Blavatnik, £23bn
2 David and Simon Reuben, £21.465bn
3 Sri and Gopi Hinduja and family, £17bn
4 Sir James Dyson and family, £16.3bn
5 Lakshmi Mittal and family, £14.68bn
6 Alisher Usmanov, £13.406bn
7 Kirsten and Jorn Rausing, £13bn
8 Roman Abramovich, £12.101bn
9 Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken and Michel de Carvalho, £12.013bn
10 Guy, George, Alannah and Galen Weston and family, £11bn

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