Abramovich 'is UK's richest man'

Roman Abramovich made much of his money from oil

Chelsea FC's owner Roman Abramovich is the UK's richest person with a £7.2bn personal fortune, a new report claims.

The 37-year-old Russian's wealth heads the Mail on Sunday Rich Report 2004, ahead of Tetrapak billionaire Hans Rausing and the Duke of Westminster.

The report includes the 300 richest UK-based men and women, who share a total of £147.3bn - up 28% since last year.

It includes 29 billionaires and 196 self-made fortunes, but Harry Potter author JK Rowling is not in the top 10.

The full Rich Report will be published on Sunday and the team spent two months researching the man at the top of it.

THE RICH REPORT 1. Roman Abramovich, oil tycoon: £7.2bn (new) 2. Hans Rausing, Tetrapak billionaire: £6.6bn (£6.3bn) 3. Duke of Westminster, landowner: £4.63bn (£4.3bn) 4. Lakshmi Mittal, steel dealmaker: £3.1bn (£1.25bn) 5. Philip Green, High Street retailer: £2.87bn (£1.14bn) 6. David Khalili, art collector: £2.7bn (£2.7bn) 7. Bernie and Slavica Ecclestone, Formula One: £2.3bn (£2.2bn) 8. Charlene De Carvalho, Heineken heiress: £2.1bn (£2.41bn) 9. Richard Branson, Virgin boss: £2.07bn (1.2bn) 10. Sainsbury family, supermarkets: £2.05bn (£1.68bn) Source: Mail on Sunday (2003 in brackets)

They concluded Mr Abramovich's wealth was built largely on massive shareholdings in Russian oil, airline and pharmaceutical companies.

It has bought him three luxury yachts worth £150m, two helicopters and a private jet worth £35m and properties in London and Sussex worth a total of £60 million, says the report.

Chelsea FC is valued by The Rich Report at £260 million, which includes £140m spent on players since last July's takeover.

The report's editor Rachel Oldroyd said: "Britain's super-rich are getting richer and you certainly don't any more have to be born into money to gain entry to the league of the nation's super rich.

"Not since the dotcom boom of the late nineties have fortunes risen so much or so fast."

One of the fastest growing fortunes belongs to High Street retail giant Philip Green, whose fortune has more than doubled in the past year to £2.87bn, putting him in fifth place.

Four places below is Virgin boss Richard Branson, whose wealth has grown from £1.2bn to £2.07bn in the past 12 months.

Paul McCartney's bank balance of £725m put him top of the Mail on Sunday's Rich Report 2004 for musicians.