Eight people with a base in the UAE are among the 350 wealthiest people in Britain, according to the new Sunday Times Rich List.
The “Dubai set” accounts for 2.1 per cent of the £784 billion held by the most affluent individuals and families who made it on to the 38th edition of the list, according to its compiler Robert Watts. Monaco accounts for 10 per cent.
In the decade Mr Watts has been counting the pennies and pounds of Britain’s wealthiest people, he has never seen such a transformation of the list. One in six of those included two years ago do not appear this year and 15 foreign nationals on last year’s list have been dropped because they now live elsewhere.
A third (111) of the UK citizens on the list do not live on the British mainland. Instead, many have relocated abroad to places such as Monaco, Switzerland and the UAE, he found. For the first time, a residence check has been made for each person on the list, who must either be British or based in Britain.
Mr Watts told The National that one person on the list even asked if he would be compiling it from Dubai this year, because so many affluent people had relocated.
However, while scores of wealthy Britons have moved to the UAE, not as many as he expected made the list. That may be because the £340 million minimum needed for inclusion is just out of reach for most who chose the UAE, while “mega-wealthy” people may have chosen Monaco or Switzerland due to their traditional attraction for the world’s richest.
“Dubai is the one to watch, there’s clearly real growth there,” he said. “There are hundreds of very wealthy people – to most people’s minds – moving to Dubai from Britain.”
On the list
Those in the UAE who make the list included entrepreneurs, financiers and businessmen.
“[Tech entrepreneur] Herman Narula hasn’t gone yet, but he’s said he’s going and is spending time in Dubai so I’ve counted him,” Mr Watts said.
“James Stevens, the property developer, popped up on the list last year and is a very good ambassador for Dubai. One of the most interesting who hadn’t been clocked yet is Kuljinder Bahia, the boss of Southall Travel, who sponsor the coverage of IPL cricket.
“Tilly Harrison, who sells valuable watches, is on the 40 under 40 list.”
The others are hedge fund manager Michael Platt, businessman Richard Desmond, Body Shop entrepreneur Mike Jatania and Mahmud Kamani, the businessman and fashion retailer Boohoo co-founder.
Mr Watts said: “This year’s Rich List is a tale of two exoduses. 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. 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 Rachel Reeves’ Treasury be able to extract from those affluent Brits who have now left the country?”
Mr Watts acknowledged that many others on the list spend time in Dubai, or have assets such as property in the UAE.
He found some people who had relocated under the radar, and other non-British citizens who have been taken off the list because they are now in the UAE, such as water brand owner Mahdi Al Tajir and industrialist Sunil Vaswani.
Lakshmi Mittal, the industrialist, was a classic example of someone falling off the list because they had relocated, said Mr Watts. “He topped the list for eight successive years, but we don’t feature him this year because he moved.
“He bought a significant amount of property in Dubai, and I was initially led to believe that is where he was heading, but actually he is principally domiciled in Switzerland.”
Another rumoured, incorrectly, to have moved to the UAE was Revolut founder Nik Storonsky. “He certainly spends a significant amount of time in Dubai. It was something of a conundrum as there were reports he had decamped to Dubai. They were based on a filing at Companies House that was subsequently corrected.”
Mr Storonsky, born in Moscow, saw his fortune rise the most on the list. His wealth climbed to £16.411 billion – average gains of £25.8 million a day since last year’s Rich List. The rise is explained by a fund-raising valuing the London-based business at £55.6 billion.
Dubai calling
So what is driving the departures? For many, it was the threat of paying inheritance tax and the risk of their heirs losing a huge portion of their wealth when they died.
“The elephant in the room is the removal of the non-domiciled status, this century-old structure whereby someone from overseas could come to the UK and pay tax only on UK income,” said Mr Watts.
“There was a misunderstanding about how big that [change] would be, especially for the elderly rich. Businesses on the other side of the planet suddenly became liable for UK inheritance tax. Some of these people feel appalled at what they perceive is a huge power grab by the UK government.”
Capital gains tax increasing and the reduction of Business Asset Disposal Relief when you sell a business also had an effect on younger, British-born people.
“When I talk to a lot of people [on the list], they feel Britain has a problem with wealth and success. They feel Britain is not supportive of entrepreneurialism, taking a risk,” he said.
The final element which persuaded the wealthy to move came down to security.
“Some people scoff, but I can only report what these people say to me. They talk about not wearing a watch on the streets of Mayfair, Paul McCartney’s wife being shoved outside Annabel’s nightclub, billionaire Paul Coulson’s London home being burgled twice in four days with a lot of jewellery taken. Places like Dubai, Monaco and Switzerland seem a lot safer.”
Table toppers
Sanjay and Dheeraj Hinduja topped the high-profile list following the death last year of father Gopichand Hinduja, the patriarch of the Indian conglomerate Hinduja Group.
Other high-profile billionaires including Sir James Dyson and Sir Jim Ratcliffe are fixtures of the list once again.
The number of billionaires recorded by the list increased to 157 for the year, nudging up from 156 a year ago after a period of decline.
Former Manchester United star Sir David Beckham has become Britain’s first billionaire sportsman.
The collective wealth of Beckham and his wife Victoria passed the billion-pound mark this year, according to the compilers, reaching £1.185 billion.
That placed them second in the Sunday Times’ list of wealthiest sportspeople, behind the family of ex-Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, whose wealth was placed at £2 billon.
Former England captain Beckham is a co-owner of Inter Miami, estimated to be Major League Soccer’s most valuable club at $1.45 billion (£1.07 billion).
He has also made huge sums as a brand ambassador for companies such as adidas and Hugo Boss.
Victoria Beckham’s wealth has primarily been generated from her eponymous fashion label, having originally found fame and fortune as a member of the Spice Girls.
Mr Watts said: “For nearly 40 years the Sunday Times Rich List has analysed the fortunes of Britain’s most affluent people. We believe understanding where wealth lies and where it is being accumulated is an important part of a functioning democracy.
“Over the years our research has told us a lot about our country, charting the way a generation of largely self-made entrepreneurs overtook the old money of the landed gentry.
“This year’s edition shines a light on fortunes made from artificial intelligence, driverless cars and cryptocurrencies as well as baby milk, make-up, hoodies and other everyday items.
“We know many of our readers find those rags-to-riches stories of entrepreneurs who started out with little more than a laptop and an idea particularly inspiring.”
