I would like to give something back to Britain.’
asserted
I → like → Britain
So said the hedge fund billionaire Chris Rokos after donating a cool £190million to Cambridge University in March via what was billed as the ‘biggest single donation to be made to a British university in modern times’.
asserted
what → say → times
It wasn’t the only large cheque he’d just written, either: the bespectacled tycoon had at around the same time settled an income tax demand for £330million, which is enough to cover the wages of roughly 10,000 newly qualified nurses and made him Britain’s third biggest payer of income tax for the year.
asserted
him → write → year
Then there were ongoing bills for doing up Tottenham House, a 200-room stately home near Marlborough in Wiltshire, which Rokos had purchased in 2018.
asserted
Rokos → be → 2018
In one of the most expensive renovations in UK history, some £175million was then funnelled to a small army of architects, builders, carpenters and plumbers, along with various contractors in their supply chain.
asserted
175million → funnel → chain
The Wiltshire Gazette, which has been closely following the ‘modernisation of the property for 21st-century living,’ reported in June that the financier ‘hopes to move in with his family from next summer’.
asserted
financier → follow → summer
For in a severe blow to both HMRC and the white van men of the M4 corridor, it emerged yesterday that the 55-year-old father of five is moving to Athens, where his firm Rokos Capital Management will open an office.
asserted
Management → emerge → office
Like an ever-increasing number of billionaires, Rokos appears to have taken the view that Greece – where ultra-wealthy foreigners are required to pay a flat rate of 100,000 euros (£86,000) on income earned abroad – offers a more convivial environment for wealth creation than the UK, where some 40 per cent of their earnings ends up with the Government.
asserted
cent → increase → Government
Or to put things another way, this fully-paid-up Master of the Universe appears to have decided that (on the tax front, at least) he’s given quite enough back to Britain, thank you very much.
asserted
he → put → you
This is not to criticise Rokos, who hails from a relatively modest background, attended a state primary school in west London before winning a scholarship to Eton, and doubtless owes his professional success to a combination of singular talent and a gruelling work ethic.
asserted
who → criticise → talent
Chris Rokos, a hedge fund manager worth an estimated £800million, is leaving the UK for Greece
He has already contributed handsomely to the UK’s coffers, over more than three decades in the City, and is perfectly entitled to up sticks for sunnier climes.
asserted
He → estimate → climes
The villain of this tale is instead our economically incoherent Government, which claims (in the words of Chancellor John Healey this week) to be building ‘a country of wealth creation’ while simultaneously pursuing Old Labour tax-and-spend policies that are pushing an endless succession of wealth creators overseas.
uncertain
that → claim → creators
Take, for example, Christian Angermayer, a German-born investor who was until last year one of the 200 richest residents here.
asserted
who → take → residents
But he decamped to Switzerland last year, blaming Labour’s changes to the tax regime as a ‘death blow’ to London.
asserted
he → decamp → London
Take also John Fredriksen, a Norwegian shipping magnate who closed his Chelsea office and moved to the United Arab Emirates, declaring that Britain had ‘gone to hell’.
asserted
Britain → take → hell
Or Slavica Malic, the former Mrs Bernie Ecclestone who railed against how ‘awful’ taxmen were and is now resident in Monaco.
asserted
taxmen → rail → Monaco
You don’t have to like the super-rich, or what they stand for, to understand they not only play a disproportionate role in keeping the economy ticking over (via the money they spend and the people they employ) but also generate a staggering proportion of the country’s overall tax revenue.
asserted
they → have → revenue
In fact, the top 1 per cent of earners, who command salaries of £207,000 or more, currently pay almost 13 per cent of the total sum HMRC takes in income taxes, a proportion that has increased year by year as income tax thresholds have been frozen by successive governments.
asserted
thresholds → command → governments
The most fortunate 11,000, who each make more than £2million a year, paid as much to the Exchequer as the ten million lowest earners last year.
asserted
who → make → earners
The problem is the Treasury only needs a handful of the very wealthiest residents to move abroad for a huge hole to be blown in its finances.
asserted
hole → need → finances
And an increasing number, from every corner of the UK, are choosing to do just that.
asserted
number → increase → that
Christian Angermayer, a German-born investor who used to live in the UK, is now in Switzerland
John Fredriksen, a Norwegian shipping magnate, closed his Chelsea office and moved to the United Arab Emirates, declaring that Britain had ‘gone to hell’
Slavica Ecclestone, formerly Radic, was married to F1 tycoon Bernie Ecclestone for nearly 25 years.
asserted
was → bear → years
She now lives in Monaco
asserted
She → live → Monaco
Monaco has a population of around 38,000 and is famous for its expensive housing and F1 track
Among them is Lady Ballyedmond, a pharmaceutical heiress who was Northern Ireland’s richest inhabitant.
asserted
who → have → them
She’s now living in Italy.
asserted
She → live → Italy
He’s gone to the US.
asserted
He → go → US
And Lakshmi Mittal, a former Labour donor who moved to Britain 30 years ago and was for eight years the country’s wealthiest man, announced his departure earlier this year, with his office telling reporters: ‘It’s sad.
asserted
It → move → reporters
Our country got a lot out of having families like these here.
asserted
country → get → these
So many have left.’
asserted
many → leave → ?
When it comes to billionaires, the numbers speak for themselves.
asserted
numbers → come → themselves
According to the Sunday Times Rich List, which came out in May, Britain now boasts a mere 157 of these lucky souls, down from 177 in 2022.
uncertain
Britain → accord → 2022
A third of the citizens who appear in the top 350 in its charts are no longer resident in the country for tax purposes.
asserted
who → appear → purposes
And one in six of the people who were there two years ago have since vanished.
asserted
who → vanish → people
The sole foreign billionaire who joined last year was Warren Stephens, an American investment banker.
asserted
who → join → ?
But he only came to these shores because President Donald Trump appointed him the new US ambassador to the UK, remarking in an interview last August that ‘a lot’ of very wealthy people were quitting the UK.
asserted
lot → come → UK
‘In the US, the top 10 per cent pay most of the income tax, so why do you want to run them out?’ he asked.
asserted
he → pay → them
HMRC’s records for the last financial year support that view.
asserted
records → support → view
They reveal that 39.8 million Britons pay income tax, out of which a staggering 30 million, who earn under £30,000, pay it at a rate of just 12.5 per cent or less.
asserted
who → reveal → cent
The £330million he shelled out last year, from reported earnings of £477million, represented almost half as much as the £700million that the country’s bottom three million earners paid in income tax.
asserted
earners → shell → tax
Lady Ballyedmond, a pharmaceutical heiress who was Northern Ireland’s richest inhabitant, is now living in Italy
To replace the cash that will be lost, thanks to his departure to Greece, the Exchequer will now need to conjure up an additional 26,000 workers, on salaries of around £30,000.
asserted
Exchequer → live → 30,000
…and 42 more, not listed.
