Mohsin and Zuber Issa: Asda-owning billionaire brothers see net worth sag
Mohsin and Zuber Issa, the billionaire owners of Asda and EG Group, have fallen down the Sunday Times Rich List, but have still maintained a high placement at number 39.
The rich list is compiled by the Sunday Times every year, and revealed today that the number of UK billionaires reached a peak of 177 in 2022, before dropping to 171 and falling again to 165 this year.
The Issa brothers have had a tumultuous year, as it was rumoured that Zuber was looking to sell his 22.5 per cent stake in Asda after falling out with his brother.
Earlier this year, Mohsin revealed he had left his wife of 30 years and had begun a relationship with Victoria Price, a former partner at Asda’s former auditor EY.
The brothers’ wives were reportedly close, leading to a rift, but they have denied a falling out publicly.
Mohsin and Zuber have also recently been criticised for their private jet usage, after a City PM investigation revealed they flew to the Caribbean over 50 times on a jet paid for using loans from their companies.
Alongside Mohsin, Zuber and their company, other travellers may have used the jets by charter. Any profit from renting them out would go to the brothers, despite using loans from their petrol station empire, according to the Financial Times.
Mohsin and Zuber Issa’s net worth
The Issa brothers have a net worth of £5bn, the rich list revealed.
This is down slightly from last year, when their net worth totalled £5.05bn.
The two bought Asda three years ago with private equity firm TDR Capital for £6.8bn, but the Leeds-based supermarket has struggled with inflation and rising debts.
Asda currently has around £3.8bn of net debt and has just refinanced over £3.2bn of it.
The supermarket giant said the deal had pushed the majority of its maturities to 2030 and 2031 and included the biggest sterling high-yield bond this year.
The brothers were overtaken on the rich list this year by Joe Lewis, founder of Tavistock Group that was recently convicted on various counts of insider trading in the US.
How did Mohsin and Zuber Issa make their money?
The brothers built their wealth on petrol stations, after setting up EG Group when they bought their first forecourt in 2001 for £150,000.
EG Group now employs over 45,000 people across almost 6,000 petrol stations.
The brothers currently have a 50 per cent stake in the petrol empire, with the Sunday Times valuing this at £4.5bn.
Mohsin and Zuber also took over fast food chain Leon in 2021, after the pandemic caused the business to start losing as much as £200,000 a week.
Despite buying a mansion in Knightsbridge for £25m, the brothers still reside in their home town of Blackburn.