Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Well Done Sir Tom

TYCOON Sir Tom Hunter yesterday told of the responsibilities that go with becoming Scotland's first home-grown billionaire.

With an estimated fortune of £1.05billion, he has been named the wealthiest person in Scotland and joint 60th in the UK in this year's rich list.

Ayrshire-based Hunter, 45, sold his Sports Division chain to JJB Sports for £290million. He now devotes much of his time to charity work.

He said: "With great wealth comes great responsibility.

"I've been lucky enough that my first business made money through people in Scotland buying the trainers and so on that I was selling.

"It's only right, therefore, that we would want to give something back."

His Hunter Foundation and the Clinton-Hunter Development Initiative, formed with former US president Bill Clinton, made recent donations of almost £30million.

Last month, Hunter's property consortium took over housebuilders Crest Nicholson for £715million.

It followed the £311million takeover of Wyevale Garden Centres and £1.1billion paid for retirement home firm McCarthy and Stone.

Other Scots high on the rich list include Rangers supremo Sir David Murray (£750million) and Harry Potter author JK Rowling (£545million). The UK's richest person is steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, who is worth £19.25billion.

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