It's official: brunettes snare the billionaires

Brunettes like Carla Bruni bag the world's top billionaires

The old adage that gentlemen prefer blondes could be utter nonsense as new research claims wealthy men are more likely to marry a brunette.

You might want to reach for the hair dye after an analysis by Lycos's dating channel of the partners of the world's top 100 billionaires proved the point.

An overwhelming majority - 62% - of billionaires are married to women with brown hair and just 22% have blonde wives or girlfriends. Ladies with black hair came in third, enticing just 16% of moneyed men, whilst not one of the world's top billionaires is married to a redhead.

Watch out for a queue at your local hair salon - they could be lining up to turn brunette a la Carla Bruni.