Carphone Warehouse founder hailed as UK's first digital billionaire

Charles Dunstone, the man who started Carphone Warehouse, was named as the UK's first digital billionaire by the 2011 Sunday Times rich list published this week.

The chairman of Carphone Warehouse and Talk Talk saw his fortune rising from £396m to £1bn within a year, after the two firms were demerged. This placed him at the head of the newspaper's digital and online retailer rich list.

Dunstone's business partner, David Ross, ranked third in the digital list with a personal wealth of £450m, after Henry Engelhardt, the Admiral Insurance chief who has amassed £648m.

Sir Richard Branson ranked 19th with a £3bn fortune from his transport, internet and telephone empire.