Closing post
Time to wrap up, after a day in which we got fresh insight into the wealth of the UK’s richest.
The number of billionaires in the UK fell by 6 according to the latest Sunday Times rich list, to 171, although their combined wealth climbed by over £30bn to £683.8bn.
Those whose wealth shank in the last year included Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty, who are down to their last half a billion pounds after their net worth fell by £200m, due to the fall in Infosys shares.
Richard Branson and family also slipped down the table.
But INEOS chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe had a better year, rising to be the second wealthiest person in Britain, with a near-£30bn fortune.
The list is topped for a fifth time by Gopi Hinduja and his family, with a fortune estimated at £35bn, up £6.5bn, the largest ever recorded in the 35-year history of the Sunday Times rankings.
The Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, claimed the title of the wealthiest under-35 year old, with £9.878bn, on a list of young rich including Ed Sheeran (£300m), Rory McIlroy (£200m), and Adele (£165m).
In other news today:
John Allan will stand down as chair of Tesco after allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
Allan, who has been chair of the UK’s biggest supermarket since 2015, will step down at the retailer’s annual general meeting (AGM) on 16 June.
The announcement came on Friday, 10 days after the Guardian reported that Allan allegedly touched the bottom of a senior member of Tesco staff in June 2022, at the company’s last AGM.
In a statement, Tesco said it had conducted an extensive review into the allegation relating to the annual meeting but had “not identified any evidence or complaints”against Allan.
More here:
Global stock markets have hit a one-month high, on hopes of a deal to lift the US debt ceiling and avoid a destabilising default. Japan’s Nikkei hit a 33-year high, and Germany’s DAX climbed to a record level.
Soaring food prices will soon overtake energy as the main factor in the cost of living crisis, research shows…
… with household energy bills likely to finally drop this summer:
Here’s the rest of today’s news:
John Allan: I remain determined to prove my innocence
In a statement issued separately to Tesco, John Allan says:
“It is with regret that I am having to prematurely stand down from my position as chair of Tesco Plc following the anonymous and unsubstantiated allegations made against me, as reported by The Guardian.
“These allegations are utterly baseless, as the internal procedures undertaken by Tesco prove.
“Tesco undertook an ‘extensive internal review’ which included inviting Tesco employees and ex-employees to come forward on an anonymous basis if they had concerns about my conduct.”
“There is no evidence of any wrongdoing at that time or at any stage of my chairmanship at Tesco, and I remain determined to prove my innocence.”
Updated
