The Sunday Times has published its annual Rich List for 2025, featuring Britain’s top 350 richest people or families.
And as usual, we are also digging into the West End Theatre Rich List for 2025, highlighting the richest people behind the scenes of London Theatre, including West End theatre owners, producers, creators and more.
This year’s list closely follows the 2024 West End Theatre Rich List.
The Sunday Times carried out the valuations between November 2024 and 28 April 2025, with the compilers of the list measuring identifiable wealth – including land, property, racehorses, art or significant shares in publicly quoted companies. They exclude bank accounts to which they have no access and small shareholdings in a private equity portfolio. The actual size of their fortunes may be much larger than these conservative figures.
It’s also worth noting that our list is solely based on the Sunday Times Rich List, of British citizens or people who live and work in Britain, meaning that a number of West End theatre owners, producers and backers are not included.
1. Sir Leonard Blavatnik
Owner of the Theatre Royal Haymarket
Worth: £25.725bn (down from £29.246bn in 2024)
Sunday Times Rich List Ranking: 3 (2025); 2 (2024); 3 (2023)
Alongside Blavatnik’s ownership of Warner Music, sports streaming platform DAZN, music streamer Deezer and numerous other investments, Blavatnik owns the Theatre Royal Haymarket in the West End. Originally purchased for £45 million, he owns the prestigious London theatre through his movie, TV and theatre company Access Entertainment, run by ex-BBC exec Danny Cohen.
Since 2023 the Theatre Royal Haymarket has focused on reviving the theatre’s tradition of being a playhouse, offering limited-run plays that “strike the balance between premium quality and commercial potential”. That includes current show The Deep Blue Sea starring Tamsin Greig; and recent productions The Score starring Brian Cox; A View From The Bridge starring Dominic West; Accidental Death of an Anarchist starring Daniel Rigby; Lucian Msamati and Ben Whishaw in Waiting for Godot; and Sarah Snook’s recent, acclaimed run in The Picture of Dorian Gray, with Danny Cohen and Access Entertainment co-producers of the London run. Up next is Till the Stars Come Down from the National Theatre.
Blavatnik’s philanthropy and involvement in the arts includes his gift of Room 34 at the National Gallery, which opened this month, helping to secure the David Bowie archive for the V&A, and co-producing the new Florence Welch musical Gatsby at the American Repertory Theatre. Blavatnik is also involved in Bridge Theatre owner’s Nick Hytner and Nick Starr’s new King’s Cross theatre and arts venture Lightroom.
Their other theatre investments include in Cabaret, Moulin Rouge!, Hamilton, and John Berry and Anthony Lilley’s company Scenario Two (The Parent Agency).
2. John Gore
Theatre producer
Worth: £2.181bn (up from £2.1bn in 2024)
Sunday Times Rich List Ranking: 76 (2025); 84 (2024); 90 (2023)
British theatre producer John Gore and his John Gore Organization is one of the world’s biggest theatre producers, who also distribute and market shows around the world, including Broadway, Off Broadway, the West End, Japan and 48 North American markets. His North America live touring business – Broadway Across America – is especially lucrative, and also owns three American venues. His business also owns broadway.com.
His successful Broadway production of Ain’t Too Proud played a London run in 2023 at the Prince Edward Theatre; other productions include West End success & Juliet, which continues to play on Broadway and is touring the UK; and Hamilton – on Broadway, at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London, and around the world. He’s also a producer of big new Broadway musical Death Becomes Her, which recently scored 10 Tony Award nominations; and Jonathan Groff as Bobby Darin in Just in Time.
His Broadway productions also include Othello starring Denzel Washington, British export Operation Mincemeat, Maybe Happy Ending, Gypsy starring Audra McDonald, Dead Outlaw, Boop! The Musical, and Glengarry Glen Ross, plus long-runners Hadestown, Six The Musical, MJ The Musical, Moulin Rouge! and more.
In 2023, John Gore bought iconic British horror film studio Hammer Films, with plans to breathe new life into the studio.
3. Sir Cameron Mackintosh
Theatre producer and owner
Worth: £1.3bn (up from £1.25bn in 2024)
Sunday Times Rich List Ranking: 124 (2025; 136 (2024); 143 (2023)
Cameron Mackintosh is one of the world’s most successful theatre producers, with productions running in London, on Broadway, and in multiple countries worldwide.
His current West End productions include Les Miserables at the Sondheim Theatre, which is London – and the world’s – longest running musical, and celebrates its 40th anniversary this year; Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty’s Theatre; Hamilton at the Victoria Palace theatre; and his reimagined version of blockbuster Lionel Bart musical Oliver!, at the Gielgud Theatre.
His touring shows include current UK & Ireland tours of Mary Poppins and Hamilton; a US tour of Les Miserables and a world tour of Les Miserables The Arena Spectacular World Tour; a US tour of Phantom; and coming up, a major new UK tour of Miss Saigon.
His recent London production of Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends at the Gielgud Theatre, is now playing on Broadway.
Mackintosh also owns 8 West End theatres through his Delfont Mackintosh Theatres company: The Gielgud, Noël Coward, Novello, Sondheim, Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, Victoria Palace and Wyndham’s theatres.
4. Elisabeth Murdoch
Entrepreneur and philanthropist in the creative industries
Worth: £1.2bn (no change from £1.2bn in 2024)
Sunday Times Rich List Ranking: 131 (2025); 143 (2024); 147 (2023)
SISTER, the company set up by Elisabeth Murdoch, Stacey Snider and Jane Featherstone, sister of former Royal Court Theatre chief Vicky Featherstone, continues to build on its successful TV production business, producing such hits as current Netflix thriller Black Doves, HBO/Sky hit Chernobyl, BBC series This is Going To Hurt, and a number of new acquisitions and initiatives – some of which are London theatre related.
In November 2022 they partnered with the Royal Court on a three year deal to seek out the next generation of new and emerging TV and theatre writers. Sister issued a statement acknowledging “the interconnectedness of UK TV and theatre”, and has run workshops to generate new plays. New plays already coming out of the relationship include Baghdaddy by Jasmine Naziha Jones, and Graceland by Ava Wong Davies. Elisabeth Murdoch and Jane Featherstone were also producers of last year’s mega-successful West End run of For Black Boys Who Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy.
Sister has also moved into live music and performance, having taken a 40% stake in Camden’s iconic venue KOKO, which now includes a swanky member’s club, restaurant and performance spaces.
5. JK Rowling
Author, screenwriter, executive producer
Worth: £945m (no change from £945m in 2024)
Sunday Times Rich List Ranking: 168 (2025); 175 (2024); 191 (2023)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child continues to pack in audiences at the Palace Theatre in London, on Broadway, and around the world. The show will get another boost when Warner Bros start production on their ambitious new Harry Potter TV series.
Rowling wrote the original story for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child with Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne wrote the play.
6. Andrew Lloyd-Webber
Composer and producer of musicals and theatre owner
Worth: £500m (down from £513m in 2024)
Sunday Times Rich List Ranking: 273 (2025); 282 (2024); 283 (2023)
Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of the most famous names in musical theatre, having composed the music to many of the most successful shows of the last 50 years including Evita, The Phantom of the Opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Sunset Boulevard, Aspects of Love and many more.
Lloyd Webber shows currently playing in London and around the world include The Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty’s Theatre; an immersive production of Starlight Express at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre; a major UK & Ireland tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; and Jamie Lloyd’s production of Sunset Boulevard starring Nicole Scherzinger on Broadway.
Coming up, Jamie Lloyd is directing a major new production of Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical Evita this summer at the London Palladium, starring Rachel Zegler.
Andrew Lloyd Webber gets to the tube to see Starlight Express
Lloyd Webber’s new shows coming up include a musical version of hit film The Illusionist, directed by Jamie Lloyd; and a collaboration with Tim Rice, reuniting for new show Sherlock Holmes And The Twelve Days Of Christmas at the Birmingham Rep this Christmas.
There are also rumours that a new, immersive production of The Phantom of the Opera may be heading to a Broadway location; and another run for the successful New York Ballroom-themed production of Cats – CATS The Jellicle Ball.
Lloyd Webber owns 6 West End theatres through his LW Theatres company: the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, The London Palladium, the Cambridge Theatre, the Adelphi Theatre (co-owned with the Nederlander Group), the Gillian Lynne Theatre, and His Majesty’s Theatre.
He also owns the Really Useful Group (RUG) which manages the rights and licensing to his shows, and producers for stage and screen. In 2023, James McKnight came in as CEO to run the division. Accounts filed in April showed a dip in pre-tax profit and turnover for the business, primarily due to Phantom closing on Broadway.
In 2024, Andrew Lloyd Webber was made a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter by King Charles III.
7. Sir Elton John
Musician and composer
Worth:£475m (up from £470m in 2024)
Sunday Times Rich List Ranking: 283 (2025); 291 (2024); 309 (2023)
Sir Elton has composed a number of hugely successful West End and Broadway musicals, and continues to do so.
His biggest theatre hit by far is Disney’s The Lion King, which continues to play to packed audiences at the Lyceum Theatre in London, on Broadway, and around the world.
Elton John’s new musical, a stage adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada, has proved a hit at the Dominion Theatre in London, directed by Jerry Mitchell and starring Vanessa Williams.
Less successful was his new musical Tammy Faye The Musical, which played a short run at London’s Almeida Theatre, before a very short, critically unsuccessful run at Broadway’s Palace Theatre starring Katie Brayben.
Also rumoured to be returning to London at some point soon is Billy Elliot The Musical; and Aida is also long-rumoured to be heading to London following the show’s recent Netherlands revival.
Whilst his touring days are now behind him, Elton’s recent album Who Believes in Angels? in collaboration with Brandi Carlile, debuted at No 1 in the UK album charts.
Elton John and David Furnish’s Rocket Stage theatre production company is run in partnership with Sally Greene of Greene Light Stage PLC, developing and investing in theatre productions in the West End and on Broadway.
8. Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson
Film and theatre producers
Worth:£450m
Sunday Times Rich List Ranking: 291 (2025)
Half-siblings Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson have been custodians over the James Bond film franchise for decades, but this year they finally sold their creative control to Amazon MGM Studios for a reported $1 billion, and landing them in the Sunday Times Rich List.
Barbara Broccoli will potentially have more time for her theatrical endeavours. Barbara’s recent investment in Broadway’s Buena Vista Social Club has led to the show scoring 10 Tony Awards nominations for 2025.
Her and Wilson have also controlled the rights to Ian Fleming’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, with a UK & Ireland tour recently completed, and a big screen remake in the works for Amazon directed by outgoing The Old Vic artistic director Matthew Warchus.
A new stage project for Barbara Broccoli is John Carney’s new screen-to-stage adaptation of Sing Street, coming to the Lyric Hammersmith this summer.
Barbara’s other recent theatre investments include Prima Facie starring Jodie Comer, which is returning next year for a UK and Ireland tour; and a 2023 run of Macbeth on Broadway starring Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga.
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