Titans of tech illuminate Sunday Times Rich List

The 2025 Sunday Times Rich List has been published today, with tech figures making up almost half of the 40 Under 40 list.

The 40 Under 40 list – which you can see further down – showcases British talent from music, sport, entertainment and business. AI developers, coders and data firms make up almost half the list, which is a subset of the main list which reveals the wealth of the 350 richest individuals and families in Britain. 

The combined wealth in the 37th annual edition is £772.8 billion — a sum larger than the annual GDP of Switzerland.

The list is topped by Dmitry Bukhman, 39, who along with his older brother, Igor, 43, taught himself to code as a child in Russia. The brothers, who received British citizenship this year, went on to create the mobile gaming giant Playrix, which now employs more than 3,000 people. 

Opposed to the war in Ukraine, the brothers, who have also taken Israeli citizenship, have homes in the same West London street.

The £12.54bn that Dmitry Bukhman shares with his family amounts to more than a third of the list’s £36.2bn combined wealth.

Further analysis of the 40 Under 40 list reveals that the majority made millions on their own, but four were born into money.

Nine of the 40 have a nationality other than British. There are two Danes, two Poles, a New Zealander and a Bulgarian.

Many of the figures have been inspired to launch businesses as a result of their personal experiences. Ben Maruthappu (above), a doctor who struggled to find suitable care for his mother after she suffered a fall, founded Cera, a healthcare company whose use of technology is on target to save the NHS and local authorities about £2m a day. 

Stars of sport, stage and screen are scattered throughout the list, and fashion and sportswear makers continue to rise: see Ben Francis of Gymshark, Dan and Melanie Marsden, and Tom and Phil Beahon – the brothers behind Castore (below) who featured on BusinessCloud’s Northern Leaders list last year.

It has been a good year for the Manchester brothers George and Mike Heaton, founders of the streetwear label Represent, whose £180 hoodies and £110 T-shirts have been worn by Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber and Dua Lipa. They also made the Northern Leaders list.

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Robert Watts, compiler of The Sunday Times Rich List, said: “Our 40 under 40 list showcases many of the country’s brightest stars from the worlds of tech, fashion, music and sport. 

“Almost all of these people built their fortunes themselves and their number includes some who left school with few, if any, qualifications.  

“A third of our list didn’t attend university. At least 11 of our entries were born overseas, underlining the draw our country continues to hold for ambitious, talented young stars to build their reputations and businesses.

“We know many of our readers find the stories inspiring of how the entrepreneurs featured built their ventures. It will be fascinating to watch which of this year’s line-up will prosper in the years ahead.” 

You can see the full Sunday Times Rich List – which will be published in a special magazine bundled with the paper this weekend – online here now.

2025 Sunday Times 40 Under 40

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