Head of Britain’s richest family dies at 85

Gopichand P. Hinduja, the head of Britain’s richest family, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 85 after a protracted illness.

Popularly known as GP, he was chairman of Hinduja Group, a diverse Indian conglomerate with interests in several sectors, including finance, media and entertainment, and oil. His immediate relatives said in a statement, “He will leave a deep hole at the heart of our family.”

Hinduja is credited with transforming his father’s modest textile and trading businesses into a conglomerate which today incorporates more than 25 companies across a dozen sectors throughout the world.

Under his leadership, as Times of India noted, the group evolved from a trader focused on markets in the Middle East into a diversified concern after it acquired Gulf Oil in 1984.

In 1987, Hinduja Group made a substantial investment in Ashok Leyland, the second largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles in India, by purchasing Land Rover Leyland International Holdings (LRLIH) from British car manufacturer Rover Group.

Hinduja was the second of the four brothers who controlled the business for decades. Gopichand, who belonged to the second generation of the Hinduja family, took over as chairman following the death of his elder sibling Srichand in May 2023.

The Hinduja brothers, who also included Prakash and Ashok, were among the most well-known ethnically Indian business families in Britain.

The family also owns significant real estate in London, including several large homes near St. James’s Park and Winston Churchill’s Old War Office in Whitehall, which was recently refurbished to include a hotel.

GP and his family topped the most recent Sunday Times Rich List with a net worth of £35.3bn. They also ranked 11th on the Forbes list of India’s 100 richest businesspeople in 2024.

He is survived by his wife, Sunita, sons Sanjay and Dheeraj, and daughter, Rita.

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