Sir Paul McCartney has joined the billionaires’ club and become the first British musician to amass such a fortune, according to the annual Sunday Times ranking which confirms the downward trend in the number of billionaires in the UK.

According to this ranking of the country’s 350 largest fortunes published today, the 82-year-old former Beatle rises to 165th place, enjoying the fruits of his multiple concerts and royalties.

Overall, according to the Sunday Times’ Rich List, the UK has 165 billionaires, down six from last year and 12 short of the record 177 billionaires set in 2022, prompting the newspaper’s comment that “it seems (…) the world’s rich are starting to leave” the country.

Sir Paul McCartney first UK billionaire musician https://t.co/6hwckIoEuj

— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) May 17, 2024

Among the reasons cited by the newspaper are the level of taxation that has increased in recent years or the lost glamour of the London Stock Exchange which is attracting less capital.

Overall, the wealth of the country’s 350 richest people has also fallen slightly, from £796.5 billion (929 billion euros) to £795.3 billion. (€927.7 billion), due to rising interest rates, inflation and a sluggish economy.

Prime Minister and former investment banker Rishi Shunak and his wife Akshata Murthy, heir to the founder of Indian technology giant Infosys, are at 245th place in the list, with a fortune of 651 million pounds.

King Charles III is not far behind, in 258th place, with £610 million, the newspaper notes, explaining that it has made a careful assessment of the monarch’s fortune, specifically excluding assets held as a monarch such as the Duchy of Lancaster or the Crown Estate (a portfolio of properties).

Among the new entrants to the ranking are F1 driver Lewis Hamilton and former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s son Ewan Blair, co-founder of Multiverse, a technology company.