SIR JIM RATCLIFFE has been named the UK’s second richest man.
The Ineos chief is attempting to buy a majority stake in Manchester United, with SunSport revealing last week that he is the preferred bidder.
Ratcliffe, 70, is set to beat off strong interest from Qatari Sheikh Jassim, who wants to buy the club outright from the Glazers.
Sheikh Jassim has risen his offer in a last-ditch attempt to beat off Ratcliffe’s bid – although the Brit’s proposal is said to still value United more highly.
According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2023, Ratcliffe’s fortune has risen significantly in the last 12 months.
In their 2022 list he featured at 27th, but this time around he is up to second after an eyewatering £23.613bn increase in his fortune.
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Ratcliffe’s worth is now said to be £29.688bn – only behind that of the Hinduja family.
The Rich List’s Robert Watts told the PA of Ratcliffe’s rise up the rankings: “This year we have new information about the full scale of Ineos’ profits and that has made us confident that Ineos is now worth at least £40bn.
“We have also learned more about the personal assets that Jim has accumulated over the past 25 years.”
Sheikh Jassim’s recent last-ditch offer came after Avram Glazer was spotted leaving a hotel owned by the takeover hopeful’s father.
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Pictures published by The Mirror showed Glazer leaving Claridge’s.
The hotel is parent company of the Maybourne Hotel Group, owned by Sheikh Jassim’s father, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani.
A huge complication over the five-month selling process, which has seen THREE rounds of bidding, was the growing desire by co-chairmen Joel and Avram Glazer to remain at the club.
Ratcliffe’s offer would allow them to do so, in a minority ownership capacity.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
