Britain's super-rich have bucked the economic downturn and increased their collective wealth by 18% in the past year.
The 1,000 best-off people in the country are now worth £395.8bn, according to the 2011 Sunday Times Rich List.
The number of billionaires in the UK now stands at 73 - up from 53 last year and almost matching the record of 75 reached before the recession when the collective wealth of the top 1,000 was £413bn.
Among the new billionaire entries are Douglas and Dame Mary Perkins, aged 68 and 67, the founders of Specsavers, and their family, who are worth £1.15bn.
The 42% increase in their wealth from last year, when the couple's fortune stood at £810m, makes Dame Mary Britain's first self-made woman billionaire.
There are now 108 women among the 1,000 richest - the first time the proportion has surpassed 10%.
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Tory peer Lord Kirkham, 66, is another new billionaire, with his family, after selling sofa business DFS to private equity group Advent International.
Their wealth stands at £1bn, up from £430m last year.
Another of the 40 British-born billionaires in this year's list is Charles Dunstone, 46, the chairman of Carphone Warehouse and Talk Talk. His fortune has risen by £396m to £1bn in a year after the two firms' were split.
The Duke of Westminster has added £250m to his fortune but falls out of the Rich List top three for the first time since 1999.
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The list is still headed by steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, although he has lost almost £5bn in the past year and is now worth £17.5bn.
Another steel magnate, Alisher Usmanov, has climbed six places into second spot after increasing his fortune to £12.4bn.
Chelsea football club owner and fellow Russian Roman Abramovich is number three on the list with a personal fortune of £10.3bn.
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Music stars Adele, Taio Cruz and Florence Welsh are three new entries on the Top young music millionaires list.
Adele is estimated to be worth £6m, Cruz and Welsh around £5m.
The index is topped again by Welsh soprano Katherine Jenkins, who has an estimated personal fortune of £13m.
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