Head of UK’s richest family worth £35,300,000,000 dies aged 85

The patriarch of the UK’s richest family has died, his family announced.

Gopichand Hinduja, 85, suffered from a long illness and died in London on Tuesday, a family spokesman said.

His family said: ‘He will leave a deep hole at the heart of our family.

‘He will also be remembered for his formidable work.’

The Hinduja family topped 2025’s Sunday Times Rich List for the second time in a row with their collective net worth of £35.3bn 

Mr Hinduja and his family made their fortune from the Mumbai-based Hinduja Group, a sprawling Indian conglomerate with holdings in automotive manufacturing, chemicals, oil and gas, real estate, media and healthcare, among others.

His older brother Srichand died in 2023 at 87 after suffering from dementia.

The Hinduja brothers began their careers in their father’s textile and trading businesses in Bombay, India.

It is not known who will now take over the leadership of the conglomerate, although the youngest brother Ashok runs its operations across India including truck maker Ashok Leyland.

The Hindujas also own significant real estate in London, including a number of large homes near to St James’s Park and Winston Churchill’s Old War Office in Whitehall, which has recently been refurbished to include a hotel.

Mr Hinduja has largely kept out of the public eye but was caught up in controversy in 2001 as part of the Hinduja Affair, which led to Lord Peter Mandelson quitting as an MP.

The scandal had related to Gopichand writing to Mr Mandelson about obtaining a UK passport for brother Prakash after the Hinduja Foundation – the group’s charitable arm – donated £1 million to the Millennium Dome.

Mr Mandelson resigned as a result, but was later cleared of wrongdoing after an inquiry.