A Jewish businessman has become the first centenarian to appear in the Sunday Times Rich List.

Tony Murray, born Gaston Jacques Kalifa in Paris in 1920, escaped Nazi-occupied France, travelling by bicycle and car to Biarritz, where he boarded a Polish ship in order to join the Free French forces in England. 

He was eventually accepted into the RAF, where he saw service over North Africa and during the D-Day landings. He served with 613 Squadron and flew 38 missions with the unit. Murray was a navigator, sometimes flying alongside Philippe de Gaulle, the French leader’s son.

After the war he was commended for “exceptional bravery” and being “an inspiration to his crew in the darkest hours” and received UK citizenship.

Murray, whose father perished at Auschwitz, returned to Paris to take control of the family's construction company after the war. He went on to build up a fortune worth an estimated £2.3bn.

In the UK his family’s business interests include London Security, which makes extinguishers and other fire-protection equipment, and Andrew Sykes Group, an air-conditioning, heating and pumping kit hire company.

The businessman, who celebrated his 100th birthday in February, is not thinking of hanging up his hat just yet. “What am I going to do if I retire? Creating businesses is what I do,” he said. 

He is the oldest person to join the Rich List since 2014, following the death of industrialist Sir Bernard Schreier at the age of 95.