The richest-ever man in Britain is not Lakshmi Mittal, the NRI steel tycoon but Alan Rufus, an immigrant from northern France, 'The Richest of the Rich' list indicated.
LONDON: The richest-ever man in Britain is not Lakshmi Mittal, the NRI steel tycoon but Alan Rufus, an immigrant from northern France, 'The Richest of the Rich' list indicated on Sunday.
At today's value, his fortune is estimated to be worth more than 81 billion pounds - three times the wealth of Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft.
But Rufus, or Alan 'the Red', can never spend it. He died more than 900 years ago.
He heads a list of 250 people in a new book, 'The Richest of the Rich', by Philip Beresford, compiler of The Sunday Times 'Rich List', and Bill Rubinstein, a professor of history at Aberystwyth University.
Their study stretches back to the Norman conquest of 1066 and includes medieval barons, moneylenders and monks as well as modern-day billionaires.
Mittal, who topped the 'Rich List' three years in a row with a fortune now worth 19.25 billion pounds, just scrapes into the top 20 at number 20, Roman Abramovich's owner of Chelsea football club is at number 59 with 10.8 billion pounds.
When he died at 53 in 1093, Rufus had a fortune of 11,000 pounds.
Beresford and Rubinstein, using figures from probate records and ancient documents, calculate that the sum
represented more than 7 per cent of the net national income of the time. With an equivalent percentage today, Rufus would be worth 81.33 billion pounds, making him easily the richest Briton of all time.
Rufus was once accused of abducting Gunhilda, daughter of King Harold, from a convent and seducing her. But he left no children and his estates passed to his brothers. His legacy is Richmond Castle, above the River Swale in North Yorkshire, which he began building 1071.
Rufus, a warrior, joined the invasion led by his uncle 'William the Conqueror'.
William had given him vast tracts of land as a reward; in all he owned 250,000 acres in Yorkshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and London.
Four of the top six in the list were Norman barons. It also includes medieval 'celebrities' such as Edward, the Black Prince, worth 35 billion pounds, Thomas Becket, who despite his saintly image had built up more than 24 billion pounds in today's money before he was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.
The highest ranking woman is Eleanor of Acquitaine, wife of Henry II, at number 62 with a fortune worth 10 billion pounds in today's terms.
Eleanor, played by Glen Close in the most recent screen version of 'The Lion in Winter', lived to the grand age of 82. The list excludes monarchs.
The top five in the list are -
Alan Rufus (1040-1093) landowner - 81 billion pounds
William of Warenne (d.1088) Soldier - 74 billion pounds
Earl of Arundel and Warenne (1307-1376) General - 59 billion pounds
Robert of Mortain (1031-1090) Soldier - 59 billion pounds
Earl of Arundel and Surrey (1346-1397) Admiral - 55 billion pounds.
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