London:
Non-Resident Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal continues to be the richest man in the UK in 2009, despite his wealth dwindling by 16.9 billion pounds in a year owing to the global recession, The Sunday Times Rich List claimed on Sunday.
India's Mukesh and Anil Ambani have been jointly ranked as the sixth richest in the world with a fortune of 20.5 billion pounds.
Roman Abramovich, the Russian owner of Chelsea Football Club, keeps his position at second on the list despite also suffering from the downturn. His fortune has fallen to seven billion pounds from 11.7 billion pounds.
America's the Walton family of Wal-Mart is the richest in the world -- with 52.3 billion pounds. Lakshmi Mittal is 21st richest in the world.
Leading NRI entrepreneur Lord Swraj Paul, Chairman of the Caparo Group, has seen his wealth dropping by one billion pounds in the past year -- from 1.5 billion pounds to 500 million pounds now, the paper reported.
The recession has wiped off 155 billion pounds from the fortunes of Britain's 1,000 richest people.The unprecedented collapse is the biggest annual fall since the Rich List was first compiled 21 years ago, the paper said.
The number of billionaires in the Rich List has fallen from 75 last year to 43 this year. Between them, people ranked in the top 100 lost 93 billion pounds. Only three saw their wealth increase.