Len Blavatnik tops "Sunday Times" UK rich list

Len Blavatnik
Len Blavatnik

London-based, Ukrainian-born Blavatnik has major Israeli holdings including Clal Industries, GetTaxi and ironSource.

Len Blavatnik has for the first time topped the UK rich list of the London "Sunday Times" with a fortune of £13.17 billion. The Soviet-born American billionaire who is based in London has major investments and philanthropic interests in Israel. Last year Blavatnik was fourth on the "Sunday Times" Rich List with a fortune of £13.17 billion.

Blavatnik owns Warner Music Group and through his industrial company Access Industries Inc. owns Israeli company Clal Industries, which he acquired from Nochi Dankner's IDB Holding Corp. Ltd. (TASE:IDBH) in 2012.

Clal Industries' asset include Mashav, which owns 75% of Nesher Israel Cement Enterprises Ltd. Other holdings include Hadera Paper Ltd. (TASE: AIP; Pink Sheets: HAIPF), Golf & Co. (TASE:GOLF), and Clal Biotechnology Industries Ltd. (TASE: CBI). Blavatnik has also made major investments in Israeli technology companies including taxi hailing app GetTaxi and software discovery company ironSource

The Blavatnik Family Foundation last year donated $20 million to Tel Aviv University to fund drug development, computer science, cyber research, movie production and more and also established the Blavatnik Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to allow Israeli scientists to pursue research at the University of Cambridge in the UK.

Also on the "Sunday Times" Rich List were Indian-born British Jewish businessmen David and Simon Reuben who made their wealth in carpets and metals. The Reubens are ranked fifth with a fortune worth £9.7 billion, up from seventh place and £9 billion last year.

In tenth place is Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich who fortune has shrunk to £7.29 billion from £8.52 billion last year. Over the past year the Russian-Jewish billionaire has made five investments in Israeli start-up companies and earlier this month he bought Tel Aviv's Varsano boutique hotel, which he will convert into his Israeli home.

The "Sunday Times" found that the combined assets owned by the UK's 1,000 wealthiest individuals have hit a new record of £547 billion more than double the £250 billion recorded in 2005, despite a decade of recession, economic crises and slowdown.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 26, 2015

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015

Len Blavatnik
Len Blavatnik
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