The £1m-a-year club

There was a time when simply being a millionaire was impressive enough.
But now it seems there's a far more exclusive club to join.

With a membership of 6,000, they are the mega-rich who earn at least a million pounds a year.

Inland Revenue statistics reveal celebrities, entrepreneurs, authors and sportsmen are all in the elite club.

Chelsea FC's Russian owner, Roman Abramovich, topped the list of high-earners, with much of his £564million income coming from his home country.

The highest female earner was JK Rowling who made £125million from her Harry Potter books and films.

Telecoms tycoon John Caudwell rang up £397million, while retail mogul Philip Green - whose High Street empire includes Bhs, Top Shop, Burton and Miss Selfridge - earned £171million.

According to research, the millionaire club is mostly made up of middle-aged or older men who run their own businesses.

But the number of high-earning women is gradually on the rise. There are 64 women in the top 500 earners, including a host of supermodels led by Erin O'Connor at £5million, and 20 businesswomen.

Not surprisingly, Premiership footballers form a large contingent of the new millionaires. David Beckham, who now plays for Real Madrid, is believed to be the world's highest-paid footballer.

His total annual earnings, including the fortune he makes from endorsements, are thought to be in excess of £20million.

Sir Paul McCartney is the country's highest-earning pop star with his £46million income far outstripping the likes of Sir Mick Jagger at £12million and Kylie Minogue on £5million.

Last year Sir Paul was paid £640,000 for performing a single concert at the birthday party of an American millionaire's wife.

Music producer and Pop Idol judge Simon Cowell earned £33.5million.

Many members of the millionaires' club are City bosses who have seen their salaries rise astronomically while company profits slumped. Behind the 6,000 super-rich, the Inland Revenue reveals there are 20,000 people in England who have a taxable income of £500,000 a year or more and 60,000 earn £250,000.

The Prime Minister, on a salary of £175,000, is counted among the 310,000 who make at least £100,000 each year.

Research by Tulip Financial Research in 2001 found that there are 150,000 millionaires in Briton, 5 per cent of which worked in the state sector.

Millionaires are worth £ 4million on average and although they make up just 0.3 per cent of the population, they account for 20 per cent of the UK's wealth.

The majority have inherited their fortune. The richest man in Britain is Hans Rausing with £6.3billion. He made his money from his milk carton business.

Second is the Duke of Westminster, whose huge property empire, is worth an estimated £4.3billion.

His annual earnings are not known because he keeps his wealth in property rather than taking out a salary or dividends.