Inverclyde's billionaire businessmen brothers Sandy and James Easdale have seen their estimated wealth grow by £25 million in the past year, according to the 2024 Sunday Times Rich List.
The tycoon siblings, who own Greenock-based bus firm McGill's and also have an extensive portfolio of property investments, are placed sixth among Scotland's richest people.
The Easdales, are also up 10 places from 2023 in the UK rich list to 116th, with an estimated worth of £1.45bn.
This year's edition, ranking the top 350 wealthiest UK individuals and families with a minimum entry of £350m, has revealed the largest fall in the billionaire count in the guide’s 36-year history.
Fashion tycoon Anders Holch Povlsen is once again the richest person in Scotland with an estimated wealth of £6.73bn - although this figure is down by more than £1.7bn from 2023.
Robert Watts, compiler of the Sunday Times Rich List, said: “This year’s Sunday Times Rich List suggests Britain’s billionaire boom has come to an end.
"Many of our home-grown entrepreneurs have seen their fortunes fall and some of the global super rich who came here are moving away.
“Thousands of British livelihoods rely on the super-rich to some extent. We’ll have to wait and see whether we have now reached peak billionaire, and what that means for our economy.
“These may be harder times to create wealth, but The Sunday Times Rich List continues to unearth entrepreneurs building fortunes in diverse and often surprising ways.
"This year’s new entries include people who have made money from artificial intelligence and virtual worlds as well as plumbing supplies and teaching aides.
“We know many of our readers find such people - especially those from humbler backgrounds - very inspiring.”
The list is based on identifiable wealth, including land, property, other assets such as art and racehorses, or significant shares in publicly quoted companies, however, it excludes bank accounts, to which the paper has no access.
Ranking number one in the UK list is Gopi Hinduja and the family of investors, with an estimated wealth of £37.196bn.
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