Which city has the wealthiest?

Glasgow is the wealthiest city in Scotland, according to analysis of the fortunes of the 100 richest individuals and families from north of the border.

The city has produced 16 millionaires from the 2017 Sunday Times Scottish Rich List. Their combined wealth is just under £4.5bn – 13.7 per cent of the £32.7bn accumulated by the top 100.

The figures put Glasgow ahead of Edinburgh, which has 17 millionaires worth a total of £3.9bn, and Aberdeen with 16 millionaires with a combined wealth of £3.6bn.

The Glasgow Rich List is headed by John Shaw, who left the city to build a £1.15bn pharmaceuticals fortune in Bangalore with his Indian wife, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.

The richest person from Edinburgh is property investor Jim Mellon, worth £920m, and now based in the Isle of Man. Author JK Rowling is number two on Edinburgh’s list, with a fortune of £650m.

Aberdeen’s richest is billionaire Sir Ian Wood, worth £1.6bn, who made his money in the North Sea oil industry.

Meanwhile, Moray has produced seven fortunes worth almost £5.4bn – 16.5 per cent of the wealth of the top 100.

Much of the money is centred on Speyside where the Grant Gordon family – who head the rich list in Scotland with £2.37bn – have two of their whisky distilleries.

The richest in Perthshire and Tayside account for 14.1 per cent (£4.6bn) of the rich list wealth. The Dundee-based Thomson publishing family are among the richest in Scotland having accumulated £1.285bn.

To say "Glasgow is the wealthiest city in Scotland," is mistaken. Their wealth doesn't reflect the wealth or otherwise of the city itself. Glasgow is one of the few cities that has so many run-down poor areas so close to the city centre. Apart from the west end of Glasgow if you leave the city-centre going north, south or east you very quickly come to the less prosperous areas without going very far from the centre of town. Glasgow has been badly served over the years and when we consider its rich successful industrial history that contributed so much wealth to the country it seems particularly sad.