The UK’s second-biggest billionaire has become the latest member of the super-rich to flee the country under the Labour Government. Property tycoon David Reuben, 88, has a combined net worth of almost £28billion with his brother Simon, and topped this year’s Sunday Times Rich List.
A spokesperson for Mr Reuben confirmed today that he has relocated to Monaco, a sovereign principality that famously does not impose income tax, capital gains tax or inheritance tax, where his brother has lived for decades. It followed news that steel baron Lakshmi Mittal, worth around £15.4million, had moved from Britain to Switzerland last year, and that hedge fund manager Chris Rokos, worth £2.9billion, upped sticks to Athens just last month.
Mr Reuben, who ranks as the second-biggest billionaire in Britain, behind the Hinduja family, was reportedly a “non-dom”, a status that allows people living in the UK to dodge paying tax on foreign income or gains. Former Chancellor Rachel Reeves scrapped the system in her Budget last April, prompting the departure of a number of high-profile wealthy residents from Britain.
Labour’s changes to inheritance tax and capital gains tax have also been blamed for a recent exodus of high-fliers, with further changes to the latter expected in John Healey’s Autumn Budget.
One in six people and families who featured on the Rich List two years ago did not appear on the 2026 rankings, with researchers pointing to more home-grown British billionaires relocating to regions like Dubai and Monaco.
Robert Watts, compiler of the ranking, said: “Many foreign billionaires who have been living in the UK have dropped out because they have moved away. We have also seen a sharp rise in the number of British nationals now resident in Dubai, Switzerland and Monaco.”
He added: “As UK nationals, these people remain on our Rich List – wherever they now live. These two exoduses pose challenges for the UK economy and its public finances.
“Will more of the wealthy now set up or grow their ventures overseas and in doing so create fewer jobs here? How much tax – if any – will the Treasury be able to extract from those affluient Brits who have now left the country?”
Other high-profile figures to have reportedly exited the UK include hedge fund manager Michael Platt, who co-founded BlueCrest Capital Management and switched his residency to Switzerland, and Richard Gnodde, a Goldman Sachs executive who moved to Italy.
