Britain's billionaire exodus bunched up in the weeks before non-dom status ended
Billionaires worth about $160 billion have left Britain or cut their ties in two years, by Bloomberg's count, more than those still in its index hold. The figure is net worth, not cash sent abroad, so the tax effect it can show is on who lives where and when they left.
The Investor · Invest desk
What happened
- Half of the people in Bloomberg's tally finished leaving in the weeks before the April 2025 reforms took effect, moving to places including Monaco, Switzerland and the UAE.
- The scrapped non-dom regime had let some wealthy residents avoid UK tax on overseas wealth for as long as 15 years, and a shorter preferential regime for foreign income and gains replaced it.
- Under the new rules, long-term UK residents can have their global assets brought into the 40% inheritance tax.
- Separately, the higher rate of capital gains tax rose from 20% to 24% in October 2024.
- Bloomberg found the group dominated by foreign-born billionaires and families whose ties to Britain were sometimes comparatively recent.
Why it matters
- Who has to decide decision The 13-month gap between announcing the non-dom repeal and starting it gave mobile residents a window to leave, so the lead time on any further measure now decides how much of the base exits before it applies.
- Who's exposed exposure If exits spread from residents with recent ties to British-born major taxpayers like Rokos, the revenue at risk moves to people whose income and businesses are rooted in Britain.
- What it limits constraint With three named fortunes near 42% of the total, the claim that leavers outweigh stayers rests on a few valuations, and a fall in those holdings could reverse it without anyone moving.
Next story · Invest · Oct 7
David Reuben, worth $13.1 billion, leaves Britain for Monaco after the non-dom repealConfirmed3 publishers
Bloomberg built its total from the Billionaires Index, and it includes a handful of family fortunes [3]. Set the departures Fortune names against it and a few people account for much of the sum. Lakshmi Mittal's $40.8 billion, taken to Switzerland after three decades in Britain [9], is about a quarter of the $160 billion [18]. Add David and Simon Reuben, worth an estimated $13.1 billion each, who left London for Monaco earlier this year [10], and three people come to $67 billion, or roughly 42% [19]. Neither source lists everyone in Bloomberg's count, so those shares are indicative.
Tax policy shows up most clearly in the dates. The Conservatives announced the end of non-dom status in March 2024 [4], and half of Bloomberg's group finished leaving in the weeks before the April 2025 reforms took effect [7], about 13 months later [20]. The October 2024 capital gains rise [8] was 4 points, or a fifth more tax per pound of realised gain [21]. The only cluster of exits the sources report is the April one.
For older fortunes the heavier charge is inheritance tax on global assets [6]. The Reubens were reported to have been non-doms [10]. Before any relief or planning, 40% of $13.1 billion is about $5.2 billion per brother [22]. David Reuben is 88 [10].
The record supports more than one reading. The narrow one is that mobile money with recent, mostly foreign-born ties to Britain [11] moved ahead of a deadline, a one-time adjustment after which departures slow. A broader one has the exits spreading to people with deep roots; Chris Rokos, a British-born hedge fund manager and major taxpayer, has moved to Greece [12]. A third holds that the $160 billion overstates what Britain loses, because owners and their businesses relocate on different schedules. Shravin Mittal, who set up his investment firm Unbound in Britain, is building a life in the UAE and has opened a branch of the firm there [13].
I think the evidence earns the narrower claim. Tax rules measurably changed when, and to where, Britain's richest residents moved, and the April 2025 reforms look like a likelier trigger than the capital gains rise. The counter-case is a base rate. Wealthy residents had been leaving Britain for years before Labour took office in July 2024 [14], and John Reece moved to Monaco in 2019, before the recent changes [15]. If departures before 2024 ran at a similar pace, the reforms changed when people left more than whether they left.
Britain still has more than 2.4 million dollar millionaires, the fifth-largest such population in the world, according to UBS data cited by Bloomberg [16].
What to watch
- Any further UK tax measure on wealthy residents, which Gulf News says is still the subject of speculation, and whether its start date draws another cluster of exits.
- Whether the shorter preferential regime for foreign income and gains brings in new wealthy arrivals to offset the departures.
Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives40
- Confidence55
Perspective Coverage
3 publishers- Builder
- Builder 15%
- Operator
- Operator 27%
- Investor
- Investor 58%
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
According to a Bloomberg analysis, billionaire UK residents who loosened their ties to the country in the past two years, or left completely, took around $160 billion with them collectively.
- [2]
Bloomberg's analysis found that the combined wealth represented by those leaving now exceeds that of UK-based individuals still listed in its Billionaires Index.
- [3]
The $160 billion figure was calculated using Bloomberg Billionaires Index data, includes a handful of family fortunes, and does not mean that $160 billion in cash has physically been transferred out of the UK.
- [4]
The end of the non-dom regime was first announced by the Conservative party in March 2024, months before Labour took office.
- [5]
The abolished non-domiciled regime had allowed some wealthy residents to avoid UK tax on overseas wealth for as long as 15 years; Labour implemented its abolition alongside a shorter preferential regime for foreign income and gains.
- [6]
Under the new rules, long-term UK residents can have their global assets subject to the country's 40% inheritance tax.
- [7]
Half of the group identified in Bloomberg's analysis completed their departures in the weeks before the April 2025 reforms took effect, relocating to destinations including Monaco, Switzerland and the UAE.
- [8]
The UK government raised capital gains tax rates in October 2024, with the higher rate rising from 20% to 24%.
- [9]
Lakshmi Mittal, with a net worth of roughly $40.8 billion, left the UK after three decades for Switzerland, where he is now resident.
- [10]
David Reuben, 88, and his brother Simon, each worth an estimated $13.1 billion, left London for Monaco earlier this year; they were reported to have been non-doms.
- [11]
The group in Bloomberg's analysis is dominated by foreign-born billionaires and wealthy families whose ties to Britain were sometimes comparatively recent.
- [12]
Hedge fund manager Chris Rokos, a British-born financier and major taxpayer, moved to Greece.
- [13]
Shravin Mittal, who established his investment firm in Britain, is now building a life in the UAE and has opened a branch of his firm, Unbound, there.
- [14]
Wealthy UK residents had already been leaving the country for years before the Labour party took office in July 2024.
- [15]
British property billionaire John Reece, worth $4.1 billion, moved to Monaco in 2019, before more recent changes in policy.
- [16]
Britain has the fifth-largest population of dollar millionaires in the world, with more than 2.4 million, according to UBS data cited by Bloomberg.
- [17]
Continued speculation over further measures and uncertainty over potential future tax changes have added to concerns among wealthy UK residents.
- [18]
Mittal's $40.8 billion is about 25.5% of the $160 billion total.
- [19]
Mittal plus the two Reuben brothers come to $67.0 billion, about 42% of the $160 billion total.
- [20]
About 13 months passed between the March 2024 announcement of the non-dom repeal and the April 2025 reforms taking effect.
- [21]
The capital gains higher-rate rise is 4 percentage points, a 20% increase in tax per unit of gain.
- [22]
Before reliefs or planning, a 40% charge on a $13.1 billion estate is about $5.2 billion.
Sources
3 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- fortune.comBillionaires have left the U.K. and taken $160 billion to the likes of Monaco, Switzerland, and the UAE—that’s more than those who stayed are worth
1 article · October 7, 2026
- gulfnews.comLondon Faces $160 Billion Wealth Exodus as Super-Rich Relocate to UAE and Beyond
1 article · October 5, 2026
- news.bloomberglaw.comLondon Takes a Hit as Super Rich Worth $160 Billion Exit UK (1)
1 article · October 5, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
Entities
- Unbound
- Bloomberg
- David Reuben
- Bloomberg Billionaires Index
- UK non-domiciled tax regime
- Labour Party
- UBS
- Conservative Party