# Family fortunes

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2000/06/27/family-fortunes/
- Published: 2000-06-27T23:00:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Which is likely to be the wealthiest surname on your donor database? 
Which is likely
to be the wealthiest surname on your donor database? According to Julia Stewart,
writing in today’s The Independent, it is Patel. “If your surname is Patel you are
seven times more likely to be a multi-millionaire than if your name is Smith,” she
writes.

This conclusion is based on figures from annual Sunday Times Wealth List compiler
Dr Philip Beresford. He has 37 Patels and 50 Smiths on his list of multi-millionaires
worth over £5 million, yet there are just 36,000 Patels on the electoral roll compared
to 360,000 Smiths. Beresford is reported as saying there are a further 500 Patels
who have made their first million.

Topping the list of the richest Patels in the UK are Vijay and his brother Bikhu,
CEO and MD of Waymead Healthcare Plc.

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