Gambling fuels super-rich
Web posted at: 4/24/2006 2:19:31
Source ::: The Times
LONDON: Britian’s gambling boom has helped fuel a 20% increase in the combined wealth of the country’s super-rich.
Half of the new entries in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List with fortunes of £500m or more have made their money from hosting internet gambling or owning casinos.
Their rise is the most conspicuous of an extraordinary tripling in wealth of the country’s 1,000 richest people under Labour — up to £301bn, from £99bn in the nine years since Tony Blair came to power. By contrast, average earnings have risen just 37pc, while the value of the average house in Britain has risen by 160pc or £100,000.
The growth of gambling fortunes has been fuelled by a surge in the habit, with Britons betting £800 for every man, woman and child last year. Average spending, along with problem gambling, is likely to increase as Labour’s deregulation of casinos takes effect.
In the past year the overall wealth of the Rich List 1,000 has shot up 20.6pc, or more than £50bn, equivalent to the nation’s total annual wager. The number of billionaires has risen by 14 to 54, with 20 of the total coming from overseas.
Topping the list for the second year running is Lakshmi Mittal, the Indian-born steel magnate whose wealth is now assessed at almost £14.9bn.
While Philip and Tina Green, the king and queen of Britain’s high street, keep most of their £4.9bn fortune in Monaco for tax reasons, Russian oligarchs and American gaming bosses have chosen London as the place to spend or invest their fortunes. A newcomer to the list is Ruth Parasol, 39, a former sex chatline owner from California, who with her husband Russell De Leon, 40, owns 31.4pc of the online poker site PartyGaming.
Web posted at: 4/24/2006 2:19:31
Source ::: The Times
LONDON: Britian’s gambling boom has helped fuel a 20% increase in the combined wealth of the country’s super-rich.
Half of the new entries in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List with fortunes of £500m or more have made their money from hosting internet gambling or owning casinos.
Their rise is the most conspicuous of an extraordinary tripling in wealth of the country’s 1,000 richest people under Labour — up to £301bn, from £99bn in the nine years since Tony Blair came to power. By contrast, average earnings have risen just 37pc, while the value of the average house in Britain has risen by 160pc or £100,000.
The growth of gambling fortunes has been fuelled by a surge in the habit, with Britons betting £800 for every man, woman and child last year. Average spending, along with problem gambling, is likely to increase as Labour’s deregulation of casinos takes effect.
In the past year the overall wealth of the Rich List 1,000 has shot up 20.6pc, or more than £50bn, equivalent to the nation’s total annual wager. The number of billionaires has risen by 14 to 54, with 20 of the total coming from overseas.
Topping the list for the second year running is Lakshmi Mittal, the Indian-born steel magnate whose wealth is now assessed at almost £14.9bn.
While Philip and Tina Green, the king and queen of Britain’s high street, keep most of their £4.9bn fortune in Monaco for tax reasons, Russian oligarchs and American gaming bosses have chosen London as the place to spend or invest their fortunes. A newcomer to the list is Ruth Parasol, 39, a former sex chatline owner from California, who with her husband Russell De Leon, 40, owns 31.4pc of the online poker site PartyGaming.
