David Reuben, Britain's Second-Richest Man, Quits UK for Monaco

Britain's second-richest man has left the country. Billionaire property tycoon David Reuben, 88, has moved from London to Monaco, a spokesman for the Reuben family confirmed on Sunday, in the latest and most high-profile departure yet in the accelerating exodus of Britain's super-rich under Labour's tax reforms.

Monaco's harbour, home to the Mediterranean's biggest concentration of super-yachts. The principality levies no income tax, capital gains tax or inheritance tax.

The move was first reported by The Sunday Times. A spokesman for the brothers confirmed that Reuben relocated to the Mediterranean principality over the summer, declining to comment further. The timing will sting Downing Street: Reuben, a Newcastle United shareholder and one of the biggest taxpayers in Britain, had until this year been based in Holland Park, west London, and is currently overseeing £1 billion of restoration work on London landmarks.

A Summer Move Nobody Noticed

Details of the departure remain sparse, and the family's reticence is itself telling. According to The Sunday Times, Reuben quietly moved to Monaco during the summer months, swapping one of London's most exclusive neighbourhoods for the tax haven where his brother Simon, 85, has lived for nearly four decades.

Simon Reuben moved to Monaco around 40 years ago on health grounds while suffering from cancer, and never left. Monaco famously imposes no income tax, no capital gains tax and no inheritance tax — a regime that has made it the preferred address of the world's ultra-wealthy.

The brothers are inseparable in business. Together they sit at number two on the 2026 Sunday Times Rich List with a combined estimated wealth of almost £28 billion — roughly £27.97 billion according to The Times. David once topped the list outright. Born in Mumbai, the pair made their first fortune trading metals, particularly aluminium, before building a vast empire spanning property, infrastructure and data centres.

Their London footprint remains enormous. The family owns some of the capital's most recognisable properties, including developments at Admiralty Arch and Cambridge House, and in 2019 the brothers donated £80 million to Oxford University to establish Reuben College. Reuben also holds a stake in Newcastle United alongside Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

The Great British Wealth Exodus

Reuben is far from alone. He joins a growing flock of billionaires and multi-millionaires who have quit Britain in the last two years, a trend that tax advisers and economists now describe as an exodus.

Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, worth an estimated £15 billion-plus, moved from Britain to Switzerland last year. Hedge fund manager Chris Rokos, worth £2.9 billion, relocated to Athens last month. Goldman Sachs executive Richard Gnodde has also departed. Several other wealthy Britons, including Sir Lewis Hamilton and INEOS chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe, already call Monaco home.

The numbers are striking. According to analysis of Rich List data, around 60 of the 350 wealthiest people and families included in the 2024 ranking have since left the country. British citizens resident in Monaco now control roughly £77 billion of Rich List wealth — more than those based in Switzerland, Dubai and the Channel Islands combined. Monaco hosts 24 Rich List individuals and families.

London's Canary Wharf financial district. Tax advisers blame Labour's tax reforms for the accelerating departure of Britain's super-rich.

Why Britain's Wealthy Are Leaving

Lawyers and economists, including figures such as Stephenson Harwood LLP's James Quarmby and Panmure Liberum's Simon French, have directly linked the string of departures to HMRC rule changes introduced by the Labour government.

The pivotal moment came in April 2025, when then-chancellor Rachel Reeves abolished the centuries-old non-domiciled tax regime. From 6 April 2025, the rules for non-UK domiciled individuals were replaced by a system based on tax residence, according to HM Treasury. For years the Reuben brothers were reported to be "non-doms", a status that allowed wealthy residents to pay UK tax only on income generated inside the country.

Many former non-doms left because they feared the loss of the status would leave their global assets exposed to UK inheritance tax. Labour has also added VAT to private school fees and raised capital gains taxes since taking office in 2024. Pressure from within the party has pushed the current Chancellor, John Healey, to go further: last year dozens of Labour MPs asked him to introduce a wealth tax on assets worth more than £10 million, and there are expectations that capital gains tax could rise again in the Budget on 28 October.

The government disputes that Britain's tax burden is exceptional. The Centre for Policy Studies noted on Sunday that UK tax rates are roughly in line with the European average once social security contributions are accounted for, and ministers argue the reforms are about fairness. But surveys of the wealthy suggest the perception of an ever-rising burden is what matters — and departures keep coming.

Admiralty Arch in London, where David Reuben is overseeing £1 billion of restoration work on landmark properties.

What This Means

For Prime Minister Andy Burnham, the Reuben departure is a political headache he did not need. The opposition will frame it as the verdict of the country's most successful businessmen on Labour's economic management. The Conservatives and Reform UK are already arguing that the exodus proves Britain is driving away the very people who fund public services through their taxes.

The fiscal question is genuinely contested. Supporters of the reforms argue the super-rich contribute less than their headline wealth suggests, and that the tax take from closing loopholes outweighs the losses. Critics counter that each departing billionaire takes not just income tax but investment, philanthropy and jobs with them — and that the £1 billion of London restoration projects Reuben is funding may now be directed by a Monaco resident.

The timing, just weeks before the 28 October Budget, raises the stakes for Healey. Any further increases to capital gains or inheritance tax risks being read as another push factor. On the other hand, backing down on a wealth tax would enrage the Labour backbenchers who demanded it.

There is also the personal dimension. At 88, Reuben's move may partly reflect a desire to be close to his brother in his later years. But the spokesman did not say that, and the pattern of the wider exodus makes the tax explanation hard to dismiss.

What Happens Next

All eyes are now on the Budget. If the Chancellor announces further rises in capital gains tax — as markets and tax advisers expect — the exodus could accelerate, and more Rich List names may follow Reuben's path to Monaco, Switzerland or Dubai.

The Treasury will be watching the revenue data closely. The test of the non-dom abolition was always whether the extra tax collected from those who stay outweighs the loss from those who leave. With around 60 of the top 350 already gone, and the second-richest man in the country now among them, the answer is getting harder to spin.

For now, Monaco's harbour has one more billionaire resident — and London has one less. Reuben's spokesman declined to say whether the £1 billion of London restoration work would be affected. The city, and the Chancellor, will be holding their breath.