Sir Philip and Lady Green £4.9 billion

With an unthinkably vast fortune of £4.9 billion from their jointly-owned retail empire, Sir Philip and Lady Green are easily the richest Brits living in Monaco. Although profits are down at their Arcadia and Bhs chains, the Greens have absolutely nothing to worry about – a dividend payment of £1.2 billion in 2005 should just about see them though. Expect more birthday parties like Sir Philip’s 55th last year – a £6 million extravaganza on a private Maldives island.

David and Simon Reuben £3.2 billion

Vladimir Kim £2.25 billion

Kim’s fortune has rocketed by almost £1 billion to £2.25 billion in the past year alone thanks to his stakes in mining companies in Kazakhstan. The 46-year-old chairman of the Kasakhmys copper company now also owns a significant chunk of the mining firm ENRC. He is also descended from Koreans forced by Stalin to move to Kazakhstan. A tough man.

Joe Lewis £2 billion

When Joe Lewis spotted the enormous potential of foreign exchange dealing, he did not hesitate to get stuck in and his fortune was made. Lewis, 70, moved out to the Bahamas in the 1970s and is worth more than £2 billion. Now based in the Caribbean, the US and Monaco, Lewis is involved in the Russian oil and gas industry, casinos, golf courses and property.

Nadhim Auchi £2 billion

Auchi is a highly-secretive Iraq-born tycoon who controls a worldwide network of more than 120 companies operating investments including luxury hotels, Middle East telecoms companies and property in Chicago. The 69-year-old has extensive political connections and is now worth just under £2 billion.

Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay £1.75 billion

The Barclay twins, 72, are legendary figures of British business. The brothers own some of the most exclusive names in the UK, from the Telegraph Group newspapers to the Ritz in London. They made their initial fortune from hotels and property and now have major retail and property interests which give them a net worth of around £1.75 billion.

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou £1.25 billion

His jovial, round face has become Stelios’s favourite marketing tool. The man behind the easyGroup started with £30 million of his family’s money and has now turned that into a fortune worth £1.25 billion. Sir Stelios, who has just turned 40, owns a stake in easyJet, his best known venture, worth more than £1 billion. Sir Stelios is a hugely popular figure who was knighted last year for services to entrepreneurship.

Wafic Said £1 billion

Said made a vast fortune via his links to wealthy Saudi princes. Born in Syria and now married to an English woman, Said lives in Monaco and also spends time on his 3,000 acre Oxfordshire estate. The 67-year-old runs a charitable foundation, gave £250,000 to the victims of the July 7 bombings and £20 million to set up the Said Business School at Oxford University.

Peter Cruddas £950 million

Few near-billionaires begin life as the son of a Smithfield Market meat porter. But Cruddas did. The 53-year-old then went on to found internet financial trading company CMC, which trades shares, currencies and spread bets and he is now worth more than £950 million. His £10m apartment on the Avenue de Spélugues is one of Monte Carlo's swankiest addresses, just by the famous casino. Quite a journey.

John Christodoulou £800 million

The man who fled his homeland of Cyprus in 1974 after the Turkish invasion has done himself proud since then. Now worth over £800 million, the 41-year-old owns a network of property companies through his Yianis Group which boasts among its assets the Marriott hotel in London’s Canary Wharf.

Lord Irvine Laidlaw £700 million (photo)

Lord Laidlaw, 64, became one of the richest men in Scotland when he sold his research company in 2005. Now worth over £700 million, Lord Laidlaw is among the most generous supporters of the Conservative party and lives in an apartment overlooking Monaco harbour. His passions include sailing his yacht around the world and racing historic cars.

John Hargreaves £680 million

Lily Sarfra £650 million

Sarfra, 69, does not have happy memories of Monaco; her fourth husband, banker Edmond Sarfra, was killed there in an arson attack at their home in 1999. Nonetheless, she continues to make enormous donations to charities out of her own pocket, estimated to stretch to a depth of £650 million worth of inheritance.

Jim McColl £430 million

McColl, 55, trousered around £100 million when the Scottish engineering company he runs, Clyde Blowers, sold off one of its subsidiaries in 2002. His current stake in the company is worth over £350 million, giving him an overall fortune of some £430 million.

Sir Michael Smurfit £410 million

A man who took his family business to unprecedented success, Sir Michael, 70, joined his father’s packaging company in 1955 and became chairman of the Jefferson Smurfit Group in 1977, where he stayed until 2002. During that time, Sir Michael’s family wealth grew to £410 million. A keen philanthropist, Sir Michael has been honoured by governments around the world for his charitable work.

Michael Evans £370 million

Straightforward, no-nonsense business nous has seen Evans, 71, extend the reach of the family business – Evans Property Holdings – via his Evans Business Centres which are springing up in British cities. That blossoming part of the business has seen the Leeds-based firm’s assets and profits rise sharply, giving Evans a fortune of £370 million.

Bob Manoukian £350 million

Mysterious Armenian tycoon Manoukian, 59, controls a family fortune of more than £350 million and is also an automobile fanatic, owing more than 60 cars, including several Rolls Royces. The Manoukians previously owned the Adelphi Theatre on London’s Strand while Bob’s most flamboyant purchase was a Bugatti Veryron for £1.1 million at a charity event.

Richard Emanuel £267 million

A truly incredible business story began when the now 39-year-old Scot launched his mobile phone company DX Communications in 1991 with £1,000 of his own savings and a £3,000 overdraft. With no training other than his experience running a health and fitness club at the age of 18, Emanuel created the largest computer retail chain in Holland with 370 stores. He is now worth a remarkable £267 million.

Firoz Kassam £250 million

Kassam, 52, was born in Tanzania to Indian parents and came to the UK as a student before basing himself in Monaco. The former owner of Oxford United Football Club, Kassam, who is now worth £250 million, has successfully developed a series of properties alongside housing asylum seekers and benefit claimants. He is currently on the brink of clinching possibly the biggest deal of his career – the renovation of Alexandra Palace in north London.

Alan Murphy £210 million

Murphy, 58, founded AM Paper, which produces toilet rolls, in 1972. When he sold part of his share of the firm in 1997, he pocketed £100 million. The rest netted him another £50 million two years later. Other business interests, including his share of Nikal, a Manchester property developer, bring his net worth over £200 million.

Dr Leonard Polonsky £200 million

A financial genius with a conscience, Dr Polonsky, 80, founded the Isle of Man-based asset management firm Hansard Global. It was floated on the stock market in 2006 and that development doubled Dr Polonsky’s fortune to around £200 million after substantial charity donations.

Jonathan Green £190 million

Anton Bilton £150 million

A regular fixture on the pages of newspapers and magazines, Bilton, 42, is a familiar name not least because of his high-profile love life. Now happily married to model Lisa B, Bilton’s home life appears less hectic than it once was. But the same cannot be said for his business life. Through … Bilton has built up his family wealth – made in property development – into a fortune of over £150 million.

Ringo Starr £145 million

The 66-year-old former Beatles drummer holds a stake in Apple Corp. worth over £100 million and since the end of the court case between the Beatles label and Apple Inc, the makers of the iPod, Starr’s share has only increased in value. Other wealth and investments take the music legend’s worth to £145 million.

Kevin Heaney £140 million

Owner of "www.cornishohomes.co.uk", One of the largest property developers in Cornwall, Heaney, 44, is now worth over £140 million.

Edward Davenport £130 million

One of Britain’s most flamboyant and successful businessmen, Davenport, 40, made his first million in his early twenties by organising parties in London. He then moved into nightclubs before branching out into investments in property, telecoms in Asia, biofuels and the film business. Davenport is now worth £130 million.

Nick and Christian Candy £120 million

The Candy brothers are possibly the best known property developers in London. With a talent for modernising huge properties in the centre of the city into flats worth tens of millions and adorned with such luxuries as a pool table made from solid Venetian glass, the pair, who are believed to have more monster deals in the pipeline, are now thought to be worth around £120 million.

John Moores III £110 million

Following the sale of UK retailer Littlewoods in 2002, various members of the Moores family pocketed huge sums. One of them was John, the grandson of the founder. His stake in the company made him £38 million and another sale of equity netted him a further £10 million shortly afterwards. His share of other family wealth take his personal worth into nine figures at around £110 million.

Jody Scheckter £100 million

Scheckter, 57, drove a Ferrari to the 1979 Formula One World Championship before going on to build a successful business career selling buffalo milk from his 2,500 acre Hampshire farm. Scheckter, now worth £100 million, also branched out in a rather different direction by founding FATS Inc, a company which provides military, law enforcement and security training to organisations around the world.

Warren Hardy £90 million

Hardy was one of the pioneers of the mobile phone revolution when he founded European Telecoms in 1990. The company subsequently grew its turnover from £170,000 to £300 million in 10 years. It was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1996 which made Hardy a multi-millionaire. Other business have seen problems since then but he is still worth a substantial sum.

Nigel Robertson £50 million

One of the founders of the internet information service Scoot.com, Robertson, a serial entrepreneur has made more than £50 million from that project as well as other ventures.

Ken McCulloch £35 million

David Coulthard £35 million

Coulthard, 36, has won 13 Formula One Grand Prix races but has never managed to push on and win the championship. Even so, he is considered one of the more successful modern drivers. A popular man, he has amassed a fortune estimated at £35 million through racing and other business activities, including a share with Ken McCulloch of the Columbus Hotel in Monaco.

Stephen Winyard £30 million

The 57-year-old Scottish businessmen recently offered a £1 million reward for information leading to the safe return of missing toddler Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in Portugal this year. Winyard, a father of three, made his money in hotels and owns the stunning Stobo Castle in Peebleshire.

Jenson Button £25 million

Button’s early promise as a Formula One driver has remained largely unfulfilled. The 27-year-old had to wait until his 113th race for his first win, in Hungary in 2006, and his chances of ever winning the biggest prize – the Drivers’ Championship – appear remote. Still, he has around £25 million to console himself with.