Lakshmi Mittal quits UK as Labour’s wealth taxes trigger billionaire exodus

TOI correspondent from UK: Lakshmi Mittal has voted with his feet. The 75-year-old steel magnate has walked away from Britain — and straight into Switzerland — joining a rush of the ultra-rich escaping Labour govt’s tax squeeze targeting high-net-worth residents.

Mittal, one of Britain’s richest men and a long-time Labour donor, has left the UK just days before chancellor Rachel Reeves’ autumn budget. He has become a tax resident of Switzerland and plans to spend most of his time in Dubai, where he has purchased a mansion on Naïa Island, a newly built enclave for global elites. The executive chairman of ArcelorMittal — born in Rajasthan’s Sadulpur — is an Indian citizen.

Reeves is expected to announce fresh levies on Nov 26, including a proposed 20% “exit tax” and a mansion tax. Her 2024 Budget had already abolished the non-domicile tax regime and shut down use of offshore trusts to avoid the UK’s 40% inheritance tax — measures that advisers say accelerated Mittal’s decision.

“The uncertainty of Labour’s tax policy, inheritance tax and abolition of the non-dom regime are a big concern for people who have worked hard and built up their wealth in the UK,” said Tory peer and multimillionaire Rami Ranger. “There is no tax in Dubai. Britain is the most taxed economy in the world.”

A wealth adviser familiar with Mittal’s plans told the Sunday Times that many affluent foreign residents “cannot understand why all 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”.

Mittal and his family were ranked eighth on the 2025 UK Rich List with a fortune of £15.4 billion (over Rs 180,887 crore). He founded Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, valued at £23.35 billion (over Rs 274, 268 crore), and controls a 38% stake.

The family moved to London in 1995 and bought three adjoining mansions on Kensington Palace Gardens — “Billionaires’ Row” — including the marble-laden “Taj Mittal”, built with stone sourced from the same quarries used for the Taj Mahal.

Mittal’s exit underscores deep unease among high-net-worth residents as Labour prepares further tax changes aimed at those with global assets, intensifying fears of an investor flight at the very top of the wealth pyramid.