Gary Lineker has renewed his call for a wealth tax on the super wealthy, asking how much money the very richest “actually need” and predicting heavy lobbying against any such measure from those who would pay it.

The former footballer and Match of the Day presenter, 65, is one of more than 120 UK millionaires who signed an open letter organised by Patriotic Millionaires UK urging the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, to introduce a 2 per cent wealth tax on assets exceeding £10 million.

Speaking on Davina McCall’s Begin Again podcast on Thursday, Lineker said there comes a point in a person’s life “where you have a wealth” and can “perhaps contribute to society”. He acknowledged that anyone can already pay more voluntarily, but argued that this misses the point. “I think if you can get it as a kind of law that the super wealthy contribute more to society, it would make sense,” he said.

The open letter to Mr Burnham, published in July, was covered by Business Matters when millionaires urged the new Prime Minister to tax their wealth, and prompted a public rejection of the idea from the broadcaster James May.

“Will they really leave over 0.2 per cent of their wealth?”

Lineker took aim at the argument that a wealth tax would drive the richest out of the country. “Especially when you’re talking about obviously super wealthy, like the billionaires, and you think, well, and they say, well, they’ll just leave the country. Will they really over like 0.2 per cent of their wealth? I mean, would they? Why? And you just think, well, would you want those kind of people in the country?”

He said a higher bill “wouldn’t really make any difference” to the individuals concerned, and compared the accumulation of assets among the super wealthy to a crude game of one-upmanship in which they measure themselves against each other.

“As someone that’s pretty wealthy, I’ve always been a contributor to tax,” he said. “I’ve always paid top, top-level tax and for a long, long, long time, and happy to do so. And then, if they want us to dip in, I think most of us would like to help in a way. So we’ll see if the government does that. There’d be a lot of lobbying against it, of course, from the super wealthy.”

Lineker’s intervention has drawn sharp criticism from opponents who point to his own tax history. Court documents show that HMRC began pursuing him for outstanding tax in 2019, when he was earning more than £1.7 million a year as the BBC’s highest-paid presenter, and that he resisted demands for £3.62 million in income tax and £1.31 million in National Insurance over his television work between 2013 and 2018.

HMRC argued that he should have been classed as an employee of the BBC and BT Sport, where he presented Uefa Champions League coverage. He was instead paid as a contractor through Gary Lineker Media, a partnership set up in 2012 with his then wife Danielle Bux, which allowed him to be paid partly in dividends at a lower corporation tax rate. He has said that all taxes were paid on the income.

HMRC pursued the case under the IR35 rules designed to tackle so-called disguised employment. After a three-day tribunal in London, a judge ruled in Lineker’s favour in 2023, finding that he was a freelancer with direct contracts with both broadcasters. HMRC appealed but settled the case in 2024.

Around 20 years earlier, Lineker was among a number of stars who put at least £100,000 each into film investment schemes run by Ingenious Media, which offered large tax breaks to investors. Publicly available records show he was a member of a series of limited liability partnerships set up by the firm between 2003 and 2007 that helped to finance films including The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Life of Pi and Avatar. In 2016 HMRC said the schemes amounted to “tax avoidance” because they sought to use “artificial losses” to avoid millions of pounds in tax. In 2017, leaked documents suggested he had avoided stamp duty on the sale of a luxury home in Barbados because it was bought through an offshore company.

“If he wants to pay more tax he could sign a cheque”

Andrew Griffith, the Conservative shadow business secretary, said: “If self-righteous preaching was an Olympic sport, millionaire crisp salesman Gary Lineker would win gold. It beggars belief that he would spend his time on elaborate tax avoidance schemes whilst lecturing others on why they should pay more tax. As per usual for out of touch celebrities, it’s one rule for him and another for everyone else.”

Robert Jenrick MP, Reform’s Treasury spokesman, said: “Gary Lineker’s hypocrisy is breathtaking. If he wants to pay more tax he could sign a cheque to the Treasury tomorrow. But he won’t because he’s spent years trying to pay as little tax as possible on his taxpayer-funded income.”

Charlie Dewhirst, the Conservative MP, said: “This is the kind of gross hypocrisy we’ve come to expect from Gary Lineker. If he is so desperate for everyone else to pay more, why did he bother battling HMRC for five years to save himself millions of pounds in extra tax?”

Maxwell Marlow, director at the Adam Smith Institute, described the call as “nothing but an absurd PR stunt”. He said: “If Gary and his dinner party chums want to pay more tax, they are welcome to do so by speaking to HMRC, preferably out of a courtroom.”

Lineker himself acknowledged on the podcast that wealthy individuals can already pay more if they choose, saying “we all do stuff with charities and things like that”, but insisted that a statutory requirement on the super wealthy to contribute more “would make sense”.

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Shares of Sterlite Technologies were locked in a 5% upper circuit of Rs 750 on the BSE on Friday after the company outlined its long-term growth plans, including a target of becoming one of the top five players globally in optical connectivity solutions and achieving revenue of Rs 20,000 crore by FY29.

The company identified optical TAM expansion, customer co-development, integrated connectivity solutions and tech-led differentiation as key growth drivers. Sterlite Technologies also plans to expand its capacity to 1.5 times to support the next phase of growth.

As part of its capital allocation for long-term growth, the company plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore annually over the next three financial years to expand preform, fiber and cable capacities by 50%. The company has further committed 2% of annual revenue towards continuous technological innovation across MCF, HCF and CPO.

Also Read | Best FII bets: 3 AI-linked stocks and up to 250% rally in Q1. Have investors missed the bus?

Board approves Rs 3,000-crore capex

The company has also approved a Rs 3,000 crore capital expenditure plan to expand capacity at its existing manufacturing facility. The proposed expansion will increase its existing installed manufacturing capacity by approximately 50%, with the additional capacity expected to be operational by the end of FY29.

Sterlite Technologies said the expansion is being undertaken in response to global demand for optical fibre cables and connectivity solutions. The company’s existing capacity utilisation is around 70%, although it has not disclosed its current capacity, citing the commercially sensitive and competitive nature of the information. The proposed Rs 3,000 crore investment will be funded through internal accruals and/or debt.
The company said the capacity addition is aimed at meeting anticipated growth in demand and strengthening its manufacturing capabilities. Its Board of Directors approved the capex and capacity expansion at its meeting held on Thursday.

Sterlite Tech Q1 numbers

In the first quarter of FY27, FII holding in the company increased by 6.75 percentage points to 18.22%, while the stock soared 248% in three months. The surge in foreign ownership comes at a time when India’s data centre industry is entering what could be a multi-year expansion phase. Rapid digitalisation, growing cloud adoption and the rising infrastructure needs of artificial intelligence are driving demand for data centres and, in turn, optical fibre connectivity.

Last month, international brokerage CLSA upgraded the stock to Outperform and assigned a target price of Rs 950. The brokerage said Sterlite Technologies’ order book surged 155% QoQ to Rs 18,600 crore, pointing to a strong growth outlook.

Sterlite Technologies reported its strongest quarterly performance in Q1FY27, helped by higher demand for optical connectivity products, growth in its data centre business and a record order book linked to AI-ready digital infrastructure.

Also Read | FIIs triple stake in Sterlite Tech after a stellar 400% surge this year. More legs to the rally?

The company reported revenue of Rs 1,910 crore for the quarter ended June 30, up 87% from Rs 1,019 crore in the same quarter last year. Sequentially, revenue rose 33% from Rs 1,441 crore in Q4FY26. Profit after tax rose 870% to Rs 197 crore from Rs 10 crore a year earlier. In the March quarter, the company had reported PAT of Rs 59 crore.

Sterlite Tech shares have been one of the best performers this year as the stock price has surged 350% in the last six months and about 630% on an year-to-date basis.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Shares of IFCI jumped as much as 6.35% to Rs 102 on the NSE on Friday, as growing optimism around the long-awaited NSE IPO put the spotlight on the state-owned financial services company’s indirect exposure to the exchange.

The latest surge adds to a strong recent run for the stock. IFCI shares have rallied nearly 35% over the past month, reflecting growing investor interest as expectations build that NSE could finally move closer to its much-anticipated public listing.

IFCI owns more than 50% of Stock Holding Corporation of India (SHCIL), which in turn holds over 4% of NSE. This gives IFCI an indirect stake in the country’s largest stock exchange and makes its shares particularly sensitive to developments surrounding NSE’s proposed IPO.

Also Read: ESDS Share Price: Software Solution Company Shares skyrocket 112% from IPO price as stock soars 20% after bumper debut.

NSE IPO moves closer?

The IPO story gained fresh momentum after Sebi Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said the regulator was close to approving the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) filed by NSE.

The potential listing has already attracted significant market attention. A Bloomberg report last month said NSE is seeking a valuation of up to Rs 5.26 lakh crore ($55 billion) for the proposed IPO.
NSE had filed its draft prospectus in June for an offering that will comprise entirely of secondary share sales by existing shareholders. According to the filing, shareholders could sell as many as 14.89 crore shares, equivalent to around 6% of the exchange’s paid-up equity capital.For IFCI investors, the eventual valuation at which NSE enters the public markets could be an important trigger. A successful and richly valued NSE listing could potentially shine a brighter light on the value of IFCI’s indirect holding through SHCIL.

However, the outlook is not without risks. In July, Dolat Capital Market initiated coverage on NSE with a bearish view, arguing that tighter regulations governing India’s equity derivatives market could weigh on trading volumes and potentially erode NSE’s market share.

The brokerage also cautioned that NSE’s expected rich valuation leaves limited room for further upside.

Meanwhile, NSE’s shares are proposed to be listed on the BSE, creating an interesting market structure: BSE shares are currently listed on NSE, while NSE shares would be listed on BSE.

Read More: PhysicsWallah shares surge over 4% after Motilal Oswal initiates coverage with Buy rating. Should you buy?

IFCI share price and technical indicators

IFCI shares have rallied nearly 35% over the past month, reflecting strong buying interest in the stock. The company currently commands a market capitalisation of around Rs 25,970 crore, while its 52-week high stands at Rs 102.

From a valuation perspective, IFCI’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio stands at 148.14, while its price-to-book (P/B) ratio is 1.67.

On the technical front, IFCI’s 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) stands at 71.7. An RSI reading above 70 is generally considered to indicate an overbought zone, suggesting that the stock could witness some profit-taking or a pullback after its recent sharp rally.

The broader trend, however, remains bullish. IFCI is currently trading above all eight key Simple Moving Averages (SMAs), indicating strong underlying price momentum across different time frames.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)