Indian businessman Srichand Hinduja, the patriarch of Britain's richest family, has died at the age of 87.
Mr Hinduja, whose family topped the 2022 Sunday Times Rich List and was said to be worth more than £28 billion ($35 billion), passed away peacefully on Wednesday as he was looked after by relatives, a family spokesman said.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our father SP Hinduja,” the family's statement said.
“SP was a visionary titan of industry and business, humanitarian and philanthropist.”
After Mr Hinduja was diagnosed with dementia he had been at the centre of proceedings in the Court of Protection in London, where judges consider issues about people who lack the mental capacity to make decisions.
The case hit the headlines in November last year after a judge said he had, at one stage during proceedings, considered placing Mr Hinduja in a public nursing home.
Mr Justice Hayden said Mr Hinduja’s needs had become “marginalised” by a family dispute, notwithstanding his wealth.
Rich List 2022 - in pictures
-
1. Sri and Gopi Hinduja and family – £28.47 billion. Getty Images -
2. Sir James Dyson and family – £23 billion. EPA -
3. David and Simon Reuben and family – £22.26 billion. Getty Images -
4. Sir Leonard Blavatnik – £20 billion. WireImage -
5. Guillaume Pousaz – £19.26 billion. Photo: Checkout -
6. Lakshmi Mittal and family – £17 billion. AFP -
7. Christoph Henkel, centre, and family – £15 billion. Getty Images -
8. Guy, George, Galen Jr and Alannah Weston – above with her father, Galen, now deceased – and family – £13.5 billion. Getty Images -
9. Kirsten, pictured, and Jorn Rausing – £12 billion. PA -
10. Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken, pictured, and Michel de Carvalho – £11.42 billion. AFP
He said at one stage he had concluded that Mr Hinduja should leave hospital, but that his relatives had not found private accommodation, despite the “extraordinary scope and reach of their financial capacity”.
The Hinduja family's business spans sectors including banking, chemicals and health care, and employs roughly 200,000 people worldwide.
