Real estate empire: Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster
The Duke of Westminster’s property company paid out more than £50m in dividends, despite posting an annual loss.
Grosvenor, which owns much of Mayfair and Belgravia in London, posted a loss of £28.6m in 2023, after making a profit of £110.4m the previous year.
The blow came as the group grappled with higher interest rates and erratic demand for its buildings. The value of its global portfolio also fell by £400m in the year to £8.6bn.
But despite this drop, the privately held company paid dividends of £51.1m in 2023, up slightly from £49.9m the previous year.
Grosvenor is wholly owned by trusts, with one of its beneficial owners being Hugh Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster, aged 33.
He is the king’s godson and the 11th richest person in Britain and inherited the business in 2016 after the death of his father Gerald.
The group owns around 300 acres of land in London that has been under family control for more than 300 years, as well as properties in the United States, Australia, Poland and Brazil.