• Gopichand Hinduja turned the Hinduja family business from modest trade into a global empire
• Family fortune reaches £35.3 billion

Gopichand Hinduja, head of one of Britain’s richest families, has died at the age of 85, after a life that transformed the family business into a global commercial empire

Hinduja and his family amassed their wealth through diverse businesses, including finance, media, entertainment, and energy, employing around 200,000 people worldwide

The family issued a statement saying: He will leave a deep void in the heart of our family, adding that he would be remembered "for his tremendous and lasting efforts

Hinduja helped turn his father’s modest textile and trading businesses into a global empire, making it one of India’s largest companies

The family topped the list of Britain’s richest with a net worth of £35.3 billion

Hinduja also ranked eleventh on the list of India’s 100 richest businesspeople in 2024

He was the second eldest of four brothers who controlled the business for decades, while the eldest, Srichand, died in 2023 at the age of 87

The family’s operations span 48 countries, and they also own significant real estate in London

Although Hinduja largely kept his private life out of the public eye, he was involved in the so-called "Hinduja affair" in 2001, when he wrote to a British minister regarding his brother obtaining citizenship after the family’s charitable foundation donated £1 million to a major project, leading to the minister’s resignation, who was later cleared after an inquiry

Meanwhile, a Swiss court last year sentenced his brother, his son, and their wives to prison for exploiting domestic workers in their Geneva mansion