Only 16 women out of 250 entrants are featured on this year’s Estates Gazette Rich List.
All the women included either made their fortunes or are part of family groupings with property interests. All figures relate to family wealth, said Dr Philip Beresford, the EG Rich List compiler, who also compiles The Sunday Times Rich List.
Beresford said: “The glass ceiling is firmly in place still.”
Rich List editor Noella Pio Kivlehan, added: “Throughout the Rich List’s 13 years, women have been under-represented. It shows that it is still difficult for women, either being encouraged or inspired, to be more entrepreneurial. It can only be hoped this will change in the coming years.”
Beresford confirmed that 59 of the 250 inherited their wealth compared with 60 in 2014. “The list is getting more meritocratic,” he said.
The combined wealth in this year’s list is more than £300bn with the number one, two and three entrants worth £45.8bn, £22.7bn and £10.2bn respectively.
• The Estates Gazette Rich List is published this weekend.
