LONDON (Reuters) - Motor racing boss Bernie Ecclestone has roared
into pole position among Britain's high earners but sports and pop stars,
and even The Queen, fail to make the top 10, the Sunday Times
reported.
The newspaper estimated that Ecclestone raked in 617 million pounds
over the past year by selling a 50 percent stake in Formula One .
The Sunday Times publishes an annual Rich List, which measures wealth
and assets rather than money earned -- the criterion used in its first Pay List.
Retailer John Hargreaves, the son of a Liverpool docker, was ranked second in the pay list with a 237 million
pound sale of shares from his Matalan chain of discount stores.
Third placed among the UK's 500 highest earners is computing pioneer Peter Harrison, who netted 177 million
from the sale of a stake in his Chernikeeff network company to South Africa's Dimension Data (Didata) .
The top 10 earners are all men and come from the world of business. Ecclestone aside, none is a household
name.
Among better known faces, red-haired disc jockey Chris Evans enters the chart at 25, with earnings of 35 million
pounds from the sale of his Ginger Media Group to broadcaster SMG .
Pop singer Sir Elton John, currently embroiled in a court case over alleged mismanagement of his riches, is ranked
at 34, with earnings of 25 million pounds.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling is the highest earning woman, in 35th position with 25 million pounds, thanks to
the boy wizard's phenomenal success.
But Britain's richest man, the Duke of Westminster, has to settle for 48th position with earnings in the past year of
20 million from the dividend from Grosvenor Estate Holdings, which owns 100 acres of Mayfair in central
London.
The Queen edges onto the list at number 70, with earnings of 13 million pounds -- 7.9 million pounds from the
Civil List provided by taxpayers.
Describing her employment as being in the field of "Establishment," the Sunday Times noted that while her
earnings were lower than many businessmen they were "still not bad for someone, who, historically, never carries
any money."