Jeremy Clarkson has made millions through his wildly successful TV career and subsequent business ventures.
After building a massive following among petrolheads as a long-time host of the BBC’s Top Gear and Amazon Prime Video’s The Grand Tour, Clarkson embarked on a second career, running a farm in the Cotswolds.
Clarkson’s Farm, the series documenting the travails of maintaining the 1,000-acre farm near Chipping Norton in West Oxfordshire, became another big hit, building up a loyal following.
Since getting his wellies on, the 64-year-old has become an outspoken defender of British farmers, lambasting the Labour government for their decision to make inherited agricultural properties worth more than £1m subject to inheritance tax at 20% from next spring, having previously been exempt.
According to Gloucestershire Live, Clarkson has estimated fortune of around £55million, and the broadcaster is among the nation’s most moneyed farm owners. But his resources pale in comparison to that of Chinese farming mogul Qin Yinglin.
Born in 1965, the Chinese agriculture tycoon is thought to be the world’s richest farmer, with an estimated networth of $14.5billion (over £11.7billion) as of January 23, 2025, according to Forbes.
It means he has a net worth around 200 times that of the estimates of Clarkson’s.
Hailing from Neixiang county, China’s central Henan province, the entrepreneur grew up in poverty and worked at a state-run pork producer before, building a vast empire of his own.
Today, he is the chairman and chief executive of Muyuan Foods, a huge Chinese firm specialising in pork production, and is hailed as the world’s richest farmer.
When he began his own business in 1992 alongside wife Qian Ying, the pair had only had 22 pigs. Muyuan now has an annual pig farming capacity of around 80 million heads, as per the outlet.
Despite Clarkson’s riches, the TV host continues to have a hands-on role at the farm, with viewers eagerly anticipating the next series of Clarkson’s Farm after the first series was hailed as “the funniest, most heartbreaking season yet”.
Season three offered yet more adventures from the staff at Diddly Squat Farm as the team dived into mushroom cultivation and coped with the emotional loss of a beloved pig.
Last year was a big year for Jeremy, full of both highs and lows, from buying, re-branding and re-opening The Farmer’s Dog pub in Asthall in August, to suffering a health scare in October.
Season four is set to premiere in May this year.
