Damien Hirst is still the UK’s Richest Artist – with a Net Worth of $384 Million

The Sunday Times released its annual “Rich List” this weekend, an equally loved and hated pecking order of the wealthiest thousand people in the UK.

When it comes to the art world’s presence on the list, only two UK artists make rank: Damien Hirst and Anish Kapoor, who are still holding their places since last year. And while overall the riches have slumped for Britain’s 1 percent, plenty of art collectors still make the cut. The Russian-born, UK-based art collector Roman Abramovich moved down a few slots from ninth on the list to 12, apparently losing some £1.07 billion ($1.3 billion) in assets. And mega-collector Charles Saatchi lost around £15 million ($18.29 million) in the past year, consequently sliding back from 830th place to 915th.

In June, Hirst is set to open a major exhibition at the Fondation Cartier in Paris, which has been two years in the making and is still set to go ahead. Hirst, who once bragged about making “double lottery rollover weekends” of £40 million in a week, did not make any more money this year than he did last year, coming in at a comfy £315 million ($384 million). 

However, other prominent UK collectors have apparently managed to grow their wealth over these turbulent times. Leonard Blavatnik, who has donated millions to Tate Modern and the Victoria & Albert Museum, leads the art world herd at number four again, with an estimated net worth of £15.8 billion ($19.2 billion), up £1.4 billion ($1.7 billion).
Courtesy of Artnet News
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