Lakshmi Mittal, one of Britain’s richest men, quits UK to relocate to Dubai

British-Indian Lakshmi Narayan Mittal, founder of ArcelorMittal with a net worth of GBP15.4 billion (US$20.17 billion) and No. 1 in the United Kingdom Rich List for eight years, is leaving the UK for Dubai.

The Sunday Times, quoting sources familiar with Mittal’s plan, said the billionaire, a resident in Switzerland for tax purposes, will now spend much of his future in Dubai, where he already has a mansion and has now bought up “tracts of an intriguing development on the nearby Naïa Island”.

Mittal becomes the latest UK billionaire to move to Dubai.

According to The Standard, Mittal joins Norwegian shipping magnate John Fredriksen in Dubai, while German investor Christian Angermayer moved to Switzerland, after saying the non-dom changes are the UK’s “death blow”. Herman Narula and Nik Storonsky, co-founders of tech companies Improbable and Revolut, have also raised concerns about UK tax changes, and moved to Dubai.

The news of Mittal’s exit comes ahead of expected tax rises on the wealthy as Chancellor Rachel Reeves tries to address a GBP20 billion (US$26.2 billion) hole in the UK’s finances, Indian news agency PTI added.

In her first Budget tabled last year after Labour’s general election win, there were increases to capital gains tax, a reduction of the tax relief for entrepreneurs selling their ventures and new taxes on the way family companies are passed down to future generations.

There have been talks of further levies in her second budget as Chancellor next week, including a possible 20 per cent exit tax on those leaving the UK.

However, an adviser familiar with the Mittals’ move was quoted by The Sunday Times as saying: “It wasn’t the tax on income (or capital gains) that was the issue.

issue was inheritance tax. Many wealthy people from overseas cannot understand why all of their assets, wherever they are in the world, should be subject to inheritance tax imposed by the UK Treasury. People in this situation feel they have little choice but to leave and are either sad or angry to be doing so.”

Death duties are levied at up to 40 per cent in the UK, but there is no inheritance tax in Dubai and in Switzerland.