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Founders

AI founders feature throughout for 2026.

This year’s 40 Under 40 list showcases British talent across fashion, business and technology as well as music, sport and entertainment – and a third of them built their fortunes through AI startups.

The list is topped again by the Duke of Westminster, who inherited his title and a vast land and property portfolio aged 25. He oversees holdings spanning 12 countries and is valued at nearly £10 billion. 

The 40 hold a combined wealth of £26.2 billion – 26% less than in 2025, largely because one of last year’s billionaires is now too old. Of the 47 individuals named, two are Polish, two are Danish, one German, one a New Zealander and one has joint British and Albanian citizenship.  

Artificial intelligence and fashion dominate this year’s ranking of Britain’s most successful young wealth creators. Nearly a third (13) of those named in the fourth edition of 40 Under 40 owe their places to one of the burgeoning crop of London-based AI startups. 

For example, ElevenLabs, the synthetic voice developer backed by the Hollywood star Matthew McConaughey, is now worth £8.1 billion — three times as much as 12 months ago — pushing the Polish techies Piotr Dabkowski and Mati Staniszewski (pictured), both 31, into joint third.  

Making the top 10 are Alex Kendall, founder of driverless car tech firm Wayve, which is worth $9bn after raising more than $1.5bn recently and this week signed a Government contract; and Herman Narula, founder of virtual worlds firm Improbable.

Wayve co-founder Amar Shah is 18th, while Victor Riparbelli and Steffen Tjerrild of Synthesia are 25th. Barney Hussey-Yeo, founder of FinTech Cleo, features in 30th.

Daniel Knight, founder and game director of Southampton-based Kinetic Games – the independent studio behind the hit horror game Phasmophobia – and now Kinetic Publishing is worth £160³¾.

Guest BBC Dragon Susie Ma of Tropic Skincare re-enters the list with a £100³¾ fortune.

Fashion also remains a powerful source of young wealth, with 11 fashion entrepreneurs making this year’s 40 Under 40. The richest is Ben Francis, 33, who dropped out of Aston University to focus on his sports brand Gymshark, learning to make hoodies after taking sewing lessons from his mother and grandmother. Francis also sits in 191st place on the overall Rich List.  

Who topped 2026 Sunday Times Rich List?

Self-made fortunes far outstrip inherited wealth: 34 of our 40 entries made their fortunes themselves. Importantly, the business founders featured here have already generated more than 15,500 jobs, analysis of the latest accounts of their companies show. 

There are four sets of brothers: Oliver and Alexander Kent-Braham, founders of InsurTech Marshmallow; Tom and Phil Beahon, founders of Castore; Ryan and Reece Broadhurst, founders of ARNE; and Mike and George Heaton, founders of Represent. 

Other stars include Harry Styles, Dua Lipa, Rory McIlroy, Anthony Joshua  and Tyson Fury, the ‘gypsy king’ boxer and reality star who debuts at No.29 with an estimated wealth of £162 million. 

Robert Watts, compiler of The Sunday Times Rich List: “The diversity of our 40 under 40 list is striking. There are some with PhDs, others who left school with grades they’d rather forget. 

“There are overnight success stories who quickly built businesses worth £1 billion, others who quietly toiled away paying themselves minimum wage salaries for years before striking gold. 

“These digital native entrepreneurs grew up in an age when launching a business became easier. Many of their companies were started with limited cash — often little more than a phone, a laptop and a good idea. 

“We know many of our readers find these largely self-made stories inspiring and believe our country needs more of these wealth creators to help power our economy – not less.”

2026 Rank	Name	Source of Wealth	Estimated wealth 2026	Estimated wealth 2025
1	Duke of Westminster	Property	£9.677²ú²Ô	£9.884²ú²Ô
2	Lady Charlotte Wellesley*	Brewing	£2.741²ú²Ô	£2.661²ú²Ô
3=	Piotr Dabkowski	Technology	£1.333²ú²Ô	£665³¾
3=	Mati Staniszewski	Technology	£1.333²ú²Ô	£665³¾
5	Ben Francis	Fashion	£800³¾	£726³¾
6	Oliver and Alexander Kent-Braham	Financial services	£779³¾	£704³¾
7	India Rose James*	Property	£689³¾	£718³¾
8	Thomas Hartland-Mackie	Electrical products	£684³¾	£684³¾
9	Alex Kendall	Driverless cars	£584³¾	£439³¾
10	Herman Narula	Virtual worlds	£578³¾	£780³¾
11	Timothy Goodwin*	Engineering	£524³¾	£308³¾
12	Jade Holland Cooper*	Fashion	£518³¾	New
13	Martin Kissinger	Financial services	£511³¾	£200³¾
14	Ed Sheeran	Music	£410³¾	£370³¾
15=	Tom and Phil Beahon	Sport	£350³¾	£350³¾
15=	Tilly Harrison*	Jewellery	£350³¾	New
17	Rory McIlroy	Sport	£325³¾	£260³¾
18	Amar Shah	Driverless cars	£321³¾	£264³¾
19	Ayman Rahman and Fateha Begum	Energy	£295³¾	£307³¾
20	Alex Lovén	Sports retail	£263³¾	£262³¾
21	Dan and Melanie Marsden	Lingerie	£253³¾	£253³¾
22	Anthony Joshua	Sport	£240³¾	£195³¾
23	Harry Styles	Music	£235³¾	£225³¾
24	Hyrum Cook	Fashion	£200³¾	New
25=	Victor Riparbelli	Artificial intelligence	£192³¾	£110³¾
25=	Steffen Tjerrild	Artificial intelligence	£192³¾	£110³¾
27	Mike and George Heaton	Fashion	£185³¾	£122³¾
28	Adele	Music	£172³¾	£170³¾
29	Tyson Fury	Sport	£162³¾	New
30	Barney Hussey-Yeo	Financial services	£161³¾	£161³¾
31	Daniel Knight	Video games	£160³¾	New
32	Dua Lipa	Music	£150³¾	£115³¾
33	Ben Maruthappu	Healthcare	£141³¾	£123³¾
34	Vishal Karia	Fragrances	£122³¾	£119³¾
35	Nizam Bata	Care homes	£120³¾	New
36=	Ryan and Reece Broadhurst	Fashion	£110³¾	New
36=	Harry Kane	Sport	£110³¾	£100³¾
36=	Sir Andy Murray	Sport	£110³¾	£110³¾
39	Daniel Radcliffe	Films and TV	£103³¾	£100³¾
40	Susie Ma	Cosmetics	£100³¾	Re-entry