Sir Jim Ratcliffe runs London Marathon in under five hours

The 71-year-old Oldhamer completed the 26 miles in four hours, 30 minutes and 52 seconds, before having to rush to watch his team take on Coventry in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

A world record 578,000 people entered the ballot for this year’s event, which made it the most popular marathon in the world.

More than 50,000 people, a record number, took part in the capital.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe pictured running the London Marathon (Image: James Hurleston)

Sir Jim Ratcliffe ended 2023 as the wealthiest man in the UK on the Forbes Rich List, after profiting £5.2bn since the start of the year - money which has been used to fund a 25 per cent takeover of his boyhood club Manchester United.

The 71-year-old self-made billionaire, who grew up in a council house in Failsworth but now lives in London, has earned more than £600m since the turn of the year.

Over three decades ago, in 1992 Sir Jim mortgaged his house to lead the buyout of a BP chemicals business, and six years later mortgaged it again to purchase an Antwerp-based chemical company.

It was in 1998 that he formed chemical giant Ineos Group - becoming the founder, chairman and majority owner in the process.

Sir Jim picked up his medal before having to rush off to watch Manchester United at Wembley (Image: PA)

The company has since branched into sport and is the principal partner to eight-times F1 champions Mercedes and a one-third shareholder of the team which is owned in three equal parts by Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Ineos and Toto Wolff.

While earlier this year Forbes registered Sir Jim as the 67th richest man in the world, and richest in the UK, worth £18.1bn by the end of 2023, The Sunday Times Rich List ranked him 2nd in the UK - behind Gopi Hinduja and family, who did not show up on the Forbes list.

According to The Sunday Times, Sir Jim is worth £29.688bn - £5.312bn behind top spot.