37. Viscount Rothermere

Job: chairman, Daily Mail & General Trust Age: 42 Industry: publishing Turnover: £2.12bn Staff: 16,038 Salary: £1.321m (total remuneration) Worth: £608m (Rothermere and family) 2009 ranking: 34 Viscount Rothermere oversees a smaller empire than he once did. The Daily Mail parent company closed its London freesheet, London Lite and sold the London Evening Standard to Alexander Lebedev. The Daily Mail & General Trust, which Rothermere chairs and controls a majority of its voting stock, also closed its Teletext TV service and sold half of its Australian radio business . A stringent cost-cutting regime that has seen its workforce shrink from nearly 18,000 people in last year helped DMGT survive the recession better than most . It beat market expectations and the Mail recorded the second most profitable year in its history . That Rothermere – AKA Jonathan Harmsworth – is not higher up this list reflects his hands-off approach to his newspapers, overseen by the Daily Mail's editor-in-chief, Paul Dacre, and the growing influence of DMGT's chief executive, Martin Morgan . Rothermere said the sale of the Standard was as difficult to deal with as the death of his parents . He had to be "cudgelled" into letting it go, according to one report , but had he held on to the loss-making paper he may have been left with no other option but to close it. The decision to shut London Lite followed the closure of Rupert Murdoch's rival freesheet , the London Paper. The ill-fated free paper war cost both proprietors millions, and with its circulation spiralling downwards ultimately led Lebedev to take the Standard free as well . As well as the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and the morning freesheet Metro, DMGT includes about 100 titles in its Northcliffe regional newspaper division , and a digital business, Associated Northcliffe Digital . DMGT also has a big business-to-business empire , which generates the bulk of its profits, and retains a 24.9% stake in the Standard. The fourth Viscount Rothermere took charge of the family business aged 30 after the sudden death of his father, Vere, and has a family fortune estimated at £608m , some £228m more than this time last year. DMGT, which has faced criticism over its shareholder structure and executive remuneration, reported like-for-like operating profits up 20% in the six months to early April to £144m, even as group revenue fell back 10%. Rothermere's biggest challenge will be finding a replacement for Dacre. "At some time he is going to have to move on," we said two years ago . He hasn't yet.