Woolf's father, John, was one of the pioneers of the British film industry, setting up his own production company, Romulus, which made The African Queen. He died in 1999, most of the family wealth was handed on to his son Jonathan, 54, formerly a merchant banker. Romulus, which is owned by a Cayman Islands company, saw its assets rise to £47.5m in 2009-10. Sunday Times Rich List valued the Woolf family at £47m.