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Property tycoon Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor and his family are the richest British citizens, the latest list of the world’s billionaires by Forbes has revealed.

Forbes lists 35 billionaires with UK citizenship, compared to more than 400 American billionaires. The top-ranking British billionaire, Mr Grosvenor, 56, is the sixth Duke of Westminster and the UK's wealthiest landowner with extensive holdings in Mayfair and Belgravia. In 2007 he resigned the chairmanship of his property firm Grosvenor Group but Forbes puts his net worth at £6.93bn ($14bn).

Mr Grosvenor is 46th on the overall list, well beneath the world’s richest man, Warren Buffet, 77, with a net worth of £30.69bn. Mr Buffet soared to first position ahead of his friend and bridge partner Microsoft’s Bill Gates, as shares of Berkshire Hathaway rose 25 per cent in less than a year.

Mr Gates is now in third position worldwide with £28.8bn, below Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim Helu with £29bn.

Back in the UK, second on the British rich list and 107th worldwide, is retail magnate Sir Philip Green, 56, and wife Christina, with £4.16bn. Brothers David and Simon Reuben are third on the British list with £2.7bn made through commercial and residential property development and investments. Charles Cadogan, 71, and family are in fourth place with £2.32bn accumulated through his 300-year-old property portfolio.

Richard Branson is in fifth position on the British list and 236th in the worldwide rankings with £2.18bn. Mr Branson launched Virgin 37 years ago as a mail-order record retailer but now the group’s revenues exceed £9.9bn. But despite his personal wealth, this year was not without its disappointments for Mr Branson, as his Virgin-led consortium failed to secure beleaguered bank Northern Rock in a private rescue bid.