Football/Industry
2017: No.6 - £990m
2016: - New Entry
Well, he's finally gone. After dropping anchor in the Birmingham Post Rich List for a couple of years longer than expected, has finally sailed into the Stateside sunset.
If you are lucky enough to have a fortune in the bank there's two ways of drastically reducing it: getting a divorce or buying a Premiership football club.
Randy Lerner did both, so selling the club for around £70 million - a tad more than he paid for it - must have come as some relief.
He stands to gain another £30 million if make it back to the within three years.
Following the deal in June, Dr Tony Xia is the new man in charge, and he made his presence felt quickly, with the rapid exit of Roberto di Matteo after a long run without a victory.
Tony Xia, 40, owns a broad-based Chinese conglomerate - the Recon Group - which owns the controlling interest in several publicly-listed companies on the Hong Kong and Chinese stock exchanges.
He is chairman and chief executive. His other private companies employ more than 35,000 people in 75 countries.
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His business interests range from planning companies which have played a big part in the rapid expansion of China's cities, to tourism, finance, logistics, IT, health, agriculture, transport and design.
One of his companies - Teamex - was recently sold in a £430 million deal.
He studied landscape design at Harvard University and at Trinity College, Oxford on a five-month exchange, before beginning his own design company in America.
When China's economy began to take off he relocated the company to the eastern province of Zhejiang.
He played football as a striker when he was a youngster and the game has long been his passion.
He sees his Villa purchase as the cornerstone of his sports, leisure and tourism interests and plans to promote the game - and Villa - in both China and India.
Back at Villa, the club's relegation and its worst run of form for many a year have had a significant effect on the club's finances, although parachute payments will take the sting out of reduced TV money and gate receipts.
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In the year to May 2015 the club made a £27.8 million loss. Turnover for the year, including player transactions, was slightly down at £115.7 million.
His stated objective is to get Villa back into the Premier League as quickly as possible, and then to finish in the top six.
That would be some achievement. He has pledged to buy a base in Birmingham for himself and his wife Sally and two year-old daughter Charlotte.