We all dream of winning the lottery and becoming a billionaire but more often than not we are left to face the harsh reality of life with empty wallets. However there are a few lucky individuals who have become self-made billionaires. Below are the top four British billionaires:
James Dyson
James Dyson was born on 2nd May 1947 in Cromer, England. He made his millions after a successful invention called the Dual Cyclone Bagless vacuum cleaner. After five years of trying, he finally launched the ‘G-Force’ vacuum back in 1983. His product was launched in Japan and won the International Design Fair there. The Dyson Dual Cyclone was the fastest selling vacuum cleaner in the UK. James Dyson is now a billionaire worth a grand total of £2.9 billion…not bad for a vacuum cleaner inventor is it?
John Caudwell
John Caudwell is an English philanthropist and businessman. He made his fortune in the mobile phone business and is the 13th richest person in the UK. In 1986 he discovered that there was large profit margins in the mobile phone business. The Caudwell group was named the UK’s fastest growing company in 1996 and 1997. With the development of Phones4U, Caudwell quickly became wealthy and is estimated to be worth around £1.5 billion.
Richard Branson
Entrepreneur Richard Branson was born on July 18th 1950 in Surrey, England. He earned his immense wealth after he launched Virgin Records back in 1973. His Virgin Group has over 200 companies in over 30 countries. The first singer to be signed on the Virgin Records label was Mike Oldfield. His single ‘Tubular Bells’ stayed in the UK charts for a massive 247 weeks. Richard Branson is said to be worth £3 billion, making him one of the richest men in the UK.
Bernie Ecclestone
Bernie Ecclestone is from the UK and is another self-made billionaire. He is the creator of the motorsport Formula One. He began his career when he was very young, trading motorcycle spare parts. This eventually led to him and a friend creating the Compton & Ecclestone motorcycle dealership. His empire is worth around £4 billion. He is quite the family man and is said to be leaving his fortune to his two daughters, Tamara and Petra.
