Hinduja family retains apex spot in Sunday Times Rich List for fifth straight year

The Hinduja family has retained the top spot in the 2026 Sunday Times Rich List, extending its run at the top of the UK’s annual wealth ranking for a fifth consecutive year. Sanjay and Dheeraj Hinduja and family were placed first with an estimated fortune of £38 billion, according to the list, which ranks the UK’s 1,000 richest people and families by estimated net wealth.

The Sunday Times Rich List is not a measure of income or earnings alone. It estimates identifiable wealth from public sources, including property, land, art and stakes in listed companies, while factoring in liabilities and excluding bank balances that cannot be verified. It also includes people and families resident in the UK even if they were born overseas, which is why globally rooted groups such as the Hindujas feature prominently.

Group roots and legacy

Founded by Parmanand Deepchand Hinduja in 1914 in Mumbai, the Hinduja Group began as a trading business and expanded over time into a broad transnational conglomerate with interests spanning automotive, lubricants and specialty chemicals, banking and finance, digital technology and IT-enabled services, energy, media and entertainment, real estate, healthcare, project development and trading. The group says its roots trace back to Sindh and that its philosophy continues to be shaped by the founder’s line: “My dharma (duty) is to work, so that I can give.”

Business footprint

Today, the Hinduja Group has interests across mobility, banking and finance, digital technology, energy, healthcare, media, real estate, project development and trading. Some of its better-known businesses include Ashok Leyland in commercial vehicles, as well as operations in lubricants, specialty chemicals and financial services. The group says it operates across 38 countries and has a large global workforce.

In its 2026 rich-list note, the family said the recognition reflects the group’s long-term resilience and its continuing focus on sectors ranging from mobility and finance to digital technology and clean-energy-linked investments. The note also highlighted the family’s philanthropic work through the Hinduja Foundation, which supports education, healthcare, rural development and water conservation.

Following the death of patriarch Gopichand Hinduja, the family's 2026 ranking reflects a clear generational shift. While Prakash Hinduja and Ashok Hinduja continue to anchor the group's global and Indian operations from the top, next-generation leaders Sanjay Hinduja (heading Gulf Oil International), Dheeraj Hinduja (chairing Ashok Leyland), and Shom Hinduja (leading Hinduja Renewables) have now emerged as the public faces carrying the empire forward.