Abramovich income 'rises by £3bn'

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Russian billionaire investor Roman Abramovich has seen his fortune grow by more than £3bn ($5.9bn) in the last year alone, a study suggests.

Mr Abramovich is now worth an estimated £10.8bn, according the Sunday Times Rich List 2006-07 study of the richest people either from or living in the UK.

Yet despite the Russian's wealth, he only comes second in the list, trailing Indian industrialist Lakshmi Mittal.

As head of Mittal Steel, he is worth an estimated £13.2bn.

Oligarch

One of Russia's oligarchs, Mr Abramovich made his riches buying up former Russian state assets in the early 1990s, primarily in the oil sector, following the collapse of Communism.

Last year, reports said he doubled his wealth through the sale of his former oil company Sibneft to state-owned Russian gas firm Gazprom.

It is not known how Mr Abramovich has added the estimated £3bn to his personal wealth this year.

Mr Mittal made headlines earlier this year when his Dutch-based Mittal Steel bought its Luxembourg rival Arcelor.

Born to a poor family in the Indian state of Rajasthan in 1950, Mr Mittal made his fortune over the past two decades by buying the unwanted assets of other steel groups, or snapping up worn out state-owned plants.

Away from the top two places, the list shows that getting divorced can be rather problematic to a millionaire's financial health.

Insurance boss John Charman has seen his estimated wealth fall to £82m after a court ordered him to give his ex-wife £48m back in the summer.

Such a divorce payment may be worrying former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, who could lose up to £200m of this current £825m fortune as a result of his separation from Heather Mills.

The Sunday Times Rich List ranks wealthy British citizens and wealthy foreigners living in the UK.