Some of the richest people in Britain are power couples with a combined wealth that dwarfs the fortune of the Queen.
When the Sunday Times Rich List, which ranks the 1,000 richest people in Britain, first began in 1989, it was dominated by aristocrats or people who had inherited wealth.
But now it seems that “wealth is often gained and lost within three generations,” and wealthy individuals marrying each other means fortunes can balloon into the billions.
A preview of The Sunday Times’ Rich List, which will be published later this month, highlights the fact that most of the wealthiest women in the UK owe their spectacular fortunes to marriage.
Others inherited their vast wealth and became among the richest people in Britain when they combined it with their spouses.
"This year's Sunday Times Rich List will show how the make-up of Britain's richest 1,000 people is changing - with a record number of women and more husband and wife partnerships than before," said Robert Watts, the Compiler of The Sunday Times Rich List 2017.
"Starting a business with your other half may not appeal to everyone. A bit of pillow talk about balance sheets wouldn't suit all marriages, but there are clearly some couples who are making it work - and very well."
"The growing number of women we're seeing in the Rich List is part of a greater diversity, with more people from ethnic backgrounds and more surprising walks of life, with soft toy makers and dating app developers lining up with private-equity barons and hedge-fund managers."
Business Insider decided to take a quick look to see who made the top spots in the couples ranking:
9. Poju and Anita Zabludowicz — £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion). The couple are world famous art collectors with a 3,000-strong Zabludowicz Collection in London. Poju mainly derives the family's wealth through property and hotels. Only four years ago, he sold the family's British Israel Property operation for £484 million.
8. Douglas and Dame Mary Perkins —£1.6 billion ($2 billion). The couple own 50% each of the giant opticians chain they founded, Specsavers.
7. Chris and Sarah Dawson — £1.9 billion ($2.4 billion). Chris is a self-made retail billionaire who founded The Range, which stocks everything from lawnmowers to sketchpads. He also cannot read or write and left school with no qualifications.
6. Sir Michael Moritz and Harriet Heyman — £2.6 billion ($3.39 billion). Heyman can largely thank her husband Michael Moritz for her insane wealth. He's the chairman of venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, which was an early investor in Google, PayPal, and Yahoo.
5. Sir Philip Green and Lady Tina Green — £2.7billion ($3.6 billion). Lady Tina (L) is married to high street fashion magnate Sir Philip Green. The Green family's stake in Arcadia, which includes major British brands like Topshop and Dorothy Perkins, is worth £1.9 billion. Sir Philip's net wealth also includes £1.6 billion worth of property, yachts, and past dividends. But the pair slipped down the list after Sir Philip wrote a cheque for £363 million to help fund the pensions of former employees of BHS employees earlier this year.
4. Francois-Henri Pinault and Salma Hayek — £3.4 billion ($4.44 billion). She's a successful Hollywood actress in her own right, with a personal net worth of around £70 million. However, her total wealth is largely down to her marriage to London-based François-Henri Pinault, who is the CEO of the second-largest French luxury group Kering, which was founded by his father.
3. Alejandro Santo Domingo and Lady Charlotte Wellesley — £3.8 billion ($4.99 billion). The couple are new to the Rich List after marrying in 2016. Domingo is a 40-year-old Colombian-American billionaire and Lady Charlotte is the Duke of Wellington's daughter.
2. Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken and Michel de Carvalho — £9.3 billion ($12 billion). Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken inherited Dutch brewer Heineken as the only child of Freddy Heineken, who died in 2002. Her family's stake is worth around £8.43 billion. She lives in London and Switzerland with her husband, Michel.
1. Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli — £11.5 billion ($14.8 billion). The singer can thank marrying the richest man in Switzerland for her astonishing wealth, which is more than the Queen and "Harry Potter" author JK Rowling combined. Her husband Ernesto inherited biotech giant Serono from his father, then sold it in 2007 for £6.2 billion.
