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Greece and Cyprus may be isolated from the international markets and the two countries' financing may be dependant on European funds and aid from the International Monetary Fund, but some of the richest people in Britain are of Greek and Cypriot origin. "The Sunday Times" annual list of the richest people in the United Kingdom includes 16 millionaires and billionaires, descendents of or born in one of the two financially troubled countries.

The first Greek name in the "golden" list on the Island is Aristotelis Mistakidis whose fortune is estimated at 1.7 billion pounds. He is the manager of the leading international integrated commodities producer and marketer, Glencore. According to Forbes magazine, Mistakidis worked in what would become the zinc, copper, and lead department, rising to the rank of co-director in 2000. A citizen of both the United Kingdom and his native Greece, Mistakidis attained billionaire status in May 2011 with the IPO of Glencore. Although its shares have lost nearly 20% of their value since their public debut, the future is bright for Glencore.

After Aristotelis Mistakidis comes the name of Alki David with a fortune of 1.1 billion pounds. He is of Greek-Cypriot origin, member of the Leventis family (according to "To Vima"), who have a series of successful businesses in various sectors. They own a number of Coca-Cola bottling plants in 28 countries around the world, as well as shipping companies, but "Alki's" (short for Alkiviades) passion is cinema. He is a producer and sometimes acts or writes scripts for movies and is the owner of an Internet broadcasting platform for high definition television programs on mobile phones, FilmOn.com.

Sir Stelios Hadziyoan is next, with 1.02 billion pounds. He is the founder of the low cost airline EasyJet and owns a share in Sea Star Capital, listed on Cyprus Stock Exchange. In 2010 he took over the management of two Greek ferry companies ANEK and Hellenic Seaways. Hadziyoan is several tens of millions removed from Chris Lazaris, who deals with property and his wealth is estimated at 923 million euros.

Philip Niarchos, the eldest son of the shipping magnate from Greek's golden past, Stavros Niarchos, comes next with a wealth currently estimated at one billion pounds, which in 2010 exceeded the state's by 250 million pounds. Michael Lemos is another successful Greek heir of a shipping business, that manages to increase the family's wealth every year. Now the value of his holdings is estimated at 765 million euros.

Real estate trade has brought Yiannis Christodoulos 670 million pounds, while his counterpart by occupation Andy (Andreas) Panayiotou ranks next with 440 million euros. "Soap" magnate John Zochonis is a third generation businessman of Greek origin. He has been honoured with the title "Sir" in the UK and has managed the Sierra Leone based trade corporation PZ Cussons for 20 years. Zochonis retired in 1993, but his fortune is still increasing and is now estimated at 346 million pounds.

Owners of the investment fund Brevan Howard, Trifonas Nazi and Chris Rokos, are next in the ranking of the richest people in Britain with 226 million pounds. Entrepreneurship and retailing have brought Theo Pafitis 180 million pounds, and building has enriched brothers Stephanou and Stelios Stephanos with 140 million pounds. Last among the Greek and Cypriot millionaires in the UK is the singer George Michael. Although he enjoys the broadest popularity in the world compared to the rest in the list, George Michael's fortune is only 100 million pounds.