London was once globally renowned as the “billionaires’ playground”, where the world’s super-rich could relax in the Georgian townhouses of Mayfair undisturbed by the grasping hand of the state. But if recent complaints by fleeing ultra-high net worth individuals are to be believed, the city is no longer as welcoming for those who consider themselves to be Britain’s most-persecuted minority. They complain of Labour’s stricter tax regime and the antipathy of others towards those with extreme wealth.
One even suggested that he was leaving the country because of London’s low-traffic neighbourhoods. The 88-year-old is a property tycoon and Newcastle United shareholder who, along with his younger brother, Simon Reuben, has a combined estimated net worth of nearly £28bn. A spokesperson did not expand on why he left, but tax is thought to be a factor.
Sir Peter Lampl, the millionaire founder of the Sutton Trust charity, said he had absconded to the US because of Sadiq Khan’s traffic policies, complaining that motorists are “pariahs” in London. Another billionaire, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who owns the chemicals company Ineos, has said he can see why rich people are leaving the UK, describing the country as “on the slide”. Ratcliffe, who fled Britain for Monaco in 2018, complained that “the UK has got a bit of a green eye towards wealth at the moment”.
Others, meanwhile, are unimpressed by the ultra-wealthy’s complaints and the warnings of economic doom for the nation that each new announced exit tends to bring. Arun Advani, director of CenTax, who is influential in Labour circles and helped design a hiked inheritance tax, said he was unconcerned about billionaire flight. So a couple of highly reported examples don’t in themselves indicate anything has changed.” Multimillionaire Dale Vince said ultra-wealthy individuals need to “stop whingeing”.
He confirmed he will be staying in the UK, and added: “The tax system is already skewed in favour of rich people. We have so many allowances, loopholes and exemptions.” For better or worse, the data shows a clear trend; an analysis of Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index has found that super-rich UK residents worth a combined £121bn have either left or loosened ties with UK since the Labour government came to power in 2024. This represents more than half of all billionaire wealth.
Among those who have left are Lakshmi Mittal, Aston Villa co-owner Nassef Sawiris and shipping magnate John Fredriksen. Rachel Reeves’ removal of the “non-dom” system, which allowed individuals to only pay tax on income generated in the UK, is blamed for many of the exits. Others say they fear new taxes on property as well as hiked inheritance taxes.
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