The latest edition of the Sunday Times Rich List has once again highlighs the extraordinary financial influence of leaders connected to the global energy, industrial and infrastructure sectors, with several of the UK’s wealthiest individuals building fortunes through oil, gas, chemicals, shipping, engineering and energy technology.

Among the most prominent energy-linked figures featured in the 2025 and 2026 rankings are entrepreneurs and industrialists whose businesses continue to shape global energy markets and the transition toward cleaner technologies.

Leading Energy-Related Figures in The Sunday Times Rich List

Sir Jim Ratcliffe - founder and chairman of INEOS, one of the world’s largest chemicals and energy groups, is reported to have a current wealth of approximately £15.2 billion in the 2026 Rich List, despite wider pressures on the industrial and petrochemicals sector.
Stephen Fitzpatrick - founder of OVO Energy, saw his estimated wealth rise significantly to approximately £3.1 billion, reflecting continued growth in the energy technology and consumer energy markets.
John Fredriksen - whose fortune stems from global shipping and oil services operations, holds an estimated wealth of £13.7 billion according to the 2025 Rich List.
Gopi Hinduja and the Hinduja family - whose diversified conglomerate includes substantial interests in energy and infrastructure — retained the number one position on the Rich List with an estimated family fortune of £35.3 billion.
Lakshmi Mittal - whose industrial empire remains heavily connected to global energy-intensive steel manufacturing and mining, recorded an estimated wealth of £15.4 billion.
Sir Ian Wood and family - longstanding leaders in North Sea engineering and energy services — continue to represent the enduring contribution of the UK offshore energy sector to national wealth creation.

The Rich List findings reinforce the continued economic importance of energy and industrial businesses to the UK economy, even amid global market volatility, changing tax policies and the accelerating transition toward low-carbon energy systems.