Rich List: Mittal topples Mansour

The latest edition, released today on FourFourTwo.com, shows that the brother of the ruler of oil-rich Abu Dhabi has increased his income by a further £2 billion since January to £17 billion – despite shelling out more than £250m to buy City plus another £200 million on players to transform Mark Hughes’ side into genuine top-four material.

However, it still falls short of the fortune amassed by QPR investor Lakshmi Mittal, who has watched his wealth skyrocket over the last nine months as shares in his Arcelor-Mittal company have recovered from a stock market slump.

Having spent £200,000 on a 20 percent stake in December 2007, Mittal could yet buy out the 54 percent stake of disgraced former F1 tycoon Flavio Briatore, and accelerate the drive towards the Premier League that Hoops’ fans have long been anticipating since the club’s high-profile takeover in 2007.

Mittal's son-in-law Amit Bhatia already sits on the Loftus Road board as vice-chairman.

"Despite his enormous wealth, Mittal crept in under the radar at QPR because of the media focus on Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone," says FourFourTwo editor-in-chief Hugh Sleight.

"But the real financial power at Loftus Road lies with the Indian. It's a signal of just how wealthy he is that even a small recovery in the economy can give him a £6 billion bump."

Chelsea supremo Roman Abramovich, jolted from first to third in the last edition of the Football Rich List, lags behind in the bronze medal position, despite seeing his wealth increase from £7 billion in January to £7.8 billion – a jump eclipsing the £600m he's poured into the club.

It's not all good news for those at the top, though. Fifth-placed Stan Kroenke, now Arsenal's major shareholder, has seen his wealth shrink from £2.245bn to £2.079bn – while his Spurs counterpart, fourth-placed Joe Lewis, will be happy to stay on £2.5bn after losing an astonishing £500 million in the collapse of Bear Sterns last March.

 

LISTThe 100 richest people in British football
NEWS
Mittal replaces Sheikh Mansour on top of Rich List
BLOGWho's this Lakshmi Mittal bloke?NEWSAbramovich makes his Chelsea investment back in nine months flat
NEWSLiverpool's joint investors now have something else to squabble over
BLOGHow the Rich List is calculated
BLOGRooney and Glazer the young and old of Rich List
BLOG:

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Gary Parkinson is a freelance writer, editor, trainer, muso, singer, actor and coach. He spent 14 years at FourFourTwo as the Global Digital Editor and continues to regularly contribute to the magazine and website, including major features on Euro 96, Subbuteo, Robert Maxwell and the inside story of Liverpool's 1990 title win. He is also a Bolton Wanderers fan.