Rich List 2016: Europe's largest steelmaker Lakshmi Mittal's fortune drops by £2 billion in past year

The number of London billionaires has fallen for the first time since the financial crash

David and Simon Reuben the property mogul brothers who own Milbank Tower and the John Lewis headquarters in London (AFP)

The family behind Europe’s main steelmaker ArcelorMittal have lost more than £2 billion in the past year.

The steel magnate's owner, Lakshmi Mittal, topped the annual Sunday Times Rich List in 2008 with £27.7 billion but has dropped to number 12 and his fortune has fallen to £7.12 billion.

It has been a difficult year for the ultra-rich with many seeing the largest fall in their fortunes since the financial crash. The number of London billionaires dropped for the first time since the financial crisis – from 80 in 2015 to 77 this year.

David and Simon Reuben, the property mogul brothers who own Milbank Tower and the John Lewis headquarters in London, have topped the list with a fortune of £13.1 billion. They increased their wealth by £3.4 billion in the past year.

Brothers Sri and Gopi Hinduja, who run the Hinduja Group, have stayed in second place for the consecutive year with a stagnant sum of £13 billion.

This year’s top 500 list contains the highest ever number of women, with 125 listed.

Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton has been named as Britain’s wealthiest sportsman and is worth £106 million.

The Sunday Times Rich List of billionaires:

1. David and Simon Reuben

2. Sri and Gopi Hinduja

3. Len Blavatnik

4. Galen and George Weston and family

5. Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli

6. The Duke of Westminster

7. Charlene De Carvalho-Heineken and Michel De Carvalho

8. Kirsten and Jorn Rausing

9. Hans Rausing and family

10. Alisher Usmanov