Chapter 157 Rich List

After DS Industrial Investment Fund acquired O2, O2 Telecom cooperated with Digital UK and SEM Group to launch a home broadband entertainment plan.

As the basis of this plan, DS Industrial Investment Fund will provide a five-year special investment of 1 billion pounds to O2 Telecom for O2 Telecom to upgrade its broadband equipment in the UK to improve its broadband access rate and coverage.

At present, O2 Telecom's main users are concentrated in England and Wales. Next, they will complete the network upgrade in the current region and improve their broadband network in Northern Ireland, the Northeast and Scotland.

It is expected that after the upgrade, the broadband surfing service provided by O2 Telecom to users will be more than ten times the mainstream dial-up Internet speed at this time.

At the same time, the home broadband entertainment plan in cooperation with Digital UK will provide users with upgraded fast Internet services at a low price of 19.9 pounds per month while installing set-top boxes and dial-up Internet devices.

What you need to know is that the current Internet access costs in the entire British region are relatively high. Take British Telecom as an example. Last year, they took broadband business as their main development direction, but at this time, even in the face of For bulk customers, the broadband price is more than 15 pounds per month, and it is still the most basic dial-up Internet access. The cost of broadband services is even higher, often more than 30 pounds per month.

Therefore, after O2 Telecom's preferential policy was launched, it was immediately welcomed by users. Coupled with the development of the Freeview platform at this time, it already had a considerable base of users. O2 Telecom's users increased sharply.

At the same time, in addition to providing broadband Internet services, O2 Telecom also provides users with richer media content in its cooperation with SEM Group.

In addition to the IPTV business promoted in cooperation with Digital UK's Freeview platform, O2 Telecom also cooperated with SEM Group's network department to launch the DailyVideo.com website, allowing its users to freely upload videos and share them with its global users.

It can be said that DailyVideo.com is similar to the later YouTube website, but relatively speaking, it is simpler, and there are also restrictions on the size of videos uploaded by users - after all, the Internet speed at this time was not as fast as later, and as the number of users increased, Later, storing these video contents will also cost a lot of money.

…

In April, the British "Sunday Times" published the 2002 ranking of the richest people in the UK.

In this list, the Duke of Westminster, who is mainly engaged in real estate, ranks first with a wealth of 4.9 billion pounds, and his assets have increased by 200 million pounds compared with last year.

J.K. Rowling, the female author of "Harry Potter", has become the highest-paid woman in the entertainment industry with a net worth of 280 million pounds. Moreover, because her property is 30 million pounds more than that of the Queen, she is on the list of the richest people in the UK. Ranked 122nd, 11 places higher than the Queen.

However, the most eye-catching thing is that although Rowling is currently only the 9th richest woman in the UK, because the first 8 women all became extremely rich through marriage or inheritance, Rowling can be regarded as the richest woman in the UK. Britain's richest 'self-made' woman.

Another very eye-catching thing on this list is another Duke on the list - Barron Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire. He ranks No. 1 on the rich list with a net worth of 1 billion pounds. 35 bits.

At the same time, the young duke, at the age of 23, became the first list of the richest young people in Britain under the age of 30.

It can be said that the announcement of this list has made Barron one of the most watched people at the moment...

However, Barron only took a look at his estimated net worth on this list. After all, his profit from shorting international crude oil this time alone exceeded 1.35 billion pounds.

That's fine. As a Duke, if he is too high-profile, it will not be a good thing. Making a fortune in silence is the safest way.

Even Barron has plans to hide his assets in layers of companies through some financial means to make his name disappear from various wealth lists.

After all, those who appear on those wealth lists may not really be those who control the world economy. Those larger families have long been hidden behind the scenes through various methods.

And with his status, he doesn't need to increase his popularity and influence through rankings in these rankings like some people do.

However, with the arrival of April, it also means that the British tax filing season has arrived again.

But this is not a problem for Barron, who has already made a lot of money last year, because except for the initial stage, all his subsequent operations were conducted in the name of the company, and his huge Financial advisors have also demonstrated their own value - such as the Chatsworth Charitable Fund and other trust funds, which can help Barron turn the profits of many companies into "charitable donations"...

Most of DS Capital's operations are conducted in the form of funds...

As long as there are no personal redemptions, the fund's profits will not be subject to personal income tax...and the longer it is held, the lower the final tax rate will be.

…

"William, long time no see. Are you happy at school recently?"

"It's not bad. You know, apart from the paparazzi, I'm still enjoying my time now."

After Prince William hugged Barron, he introduced the blonde beauty beside him:

"This is my friend, Holly Branson."

"Hello, Your Highness the Duke, nice to meet you."

Holly Branson said to Barron as she gave him a ladylike bow.

The Cavendish Building in Soho has been completed. The dance held today is to celebrate the completion of this 35-story new landmark in Soho and the Cavendish (Soho) that occupies the 15th floor of this building. live) opening of the hotel.

Although this is a four-star hotel, the facilities in the hotel are very rich. As the second hotel of the Cavendish Hotel Group in London, it also attaches great importance to it.

However, William did not bring his girlfriend today, which gave Barron a little surprise.

However, his face did not show any such emotional fluctuations at all, and he said to Holly in a rather gentlemanly manner:

"Nice to meet you too, Princess of the Virgin family."

Holly Branson’s father is Sir Richard Branson who founded the Virgin Group, which has nearly 200 member companies using Virgin as a brand and is involved in hundreds of industries. Segmented areas mainly involve tourism, aviation, entertainment and other fields.

For example, Virgin Atlantic, which is often heard, is an industry under the Virgin Group.

Barron knows that the relationship between the Virgin family and the royal family has always been very close, or in other words, this close relationship is deliberately managed by the Virgin family.

Just like the Queen's two granddaughters, Princess Atrice and Princess Eugenie, members of the Virgin family often appeared among their future boyfriends.

As the princess of the Virgin family, Holly Branson has a close friendship with Prince William, which is not surprising at all.

Even if there is any ambiguity between Miss Holly and William, Barron is not surprised at all. After all, the paparazzi also took photos of Holly sitting on William's lap...