Harry Potter author JK Rowling has taken her phenomenal success one step further by becoming richer than the Queen. That means the writer, who was drawing welfare just a few years ago, is now richer than either Her Majesty or the "Queen of Pop", Madonna.
With a personal fortune of £280 million, JK came in at number 122 on the annual Sunday Times Rich List, which has just been published. The Queen's wealth is meanwhile estimated at £250 million, leaving her trailing at number 133 while Madonna's £227 million puts her at 149th place.
The bulk of JK's fortune, £150 million, came from her books while the rest was generated by the Harry Potter films and merchandise. And with a fifth book and a third film both in the pipeline, 2003 looks set to be another lucrative year for the writer.
Her success is especially noteworthy given that 2002 was a bad year for the megarich. For the first time the combined wealth of Britain's top 1000 people fell, by two per cent to £156 billion. Stormy markets are thought to be to blame for the falls, which have seen the world's richest 50 people lose £85 billion in the last year.
The Duke of Westminster remains Britain's richest man, however, with a fortune of just under £5 billion.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
