A Preston-born hedge fund manager is the richest person in the North West of England, according to the new edition of The Sunday Times Rich List.

Michael Platt, 53, who lives in Switzerland, has seen his fortune rise by £2 billion in the past year.

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The co-founder and chief executive of BlueCrest Capital Management is now worth £10 billion, ranking him equal 11th in the wealthiest people in the UK.

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Cheshire-based Hugh Grosvenor, 31, The 7th Duke of Westminster, has lost the number one spot on the North West Rich List after a fall in his family’s fortune to £9.726 billion, down £328 million from last year.

The 68-page special edition of The Sunday Times Magazine reveals the wealth of the 250 richest people in Britain in its 34th annual edition.

There are a record 177 billionaires in the UK this year, up six from 2021. The combined wealth of the UK billionaires is £653.122 billion. That’s up by 9.4 per cent to £55.853 billion on the total wealth of the billionaires in last year’s Rich List. 

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