26 Apr 2026 07:00
Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris has announced that the London office of his investment firm NNS Group will be closed by the end of the month, thus ending the exit from Great Britain due to a wider outflow of billionaires caused by new, unfavorable tax laws.
NNS Group has filed final documents confirming the winding down of the London entity by the end of April, a year after the firm began liquidation and Sawiris moved his personal residence from the UK to Italy and Abu Dhabi.
The company already moved its headquarters to Abu Dhabi in 2024, a few months before Sawiris resigned as director of the London subsidiary, to focus on the development and growth of the portfolio in the United Arab Emirates.
Sawiris is now a resident of Italy, which has one of the most favorable tax policies for the ultra-rich in Europe, as well as Abu Dhabi, after the UK abolished its non-resident tax status. That status allowed foreigners to pay tax only on income earned in the country, not on global earnings.
Although he is one of several billionaires who left Great Britain due to the abolition of favorable tax rules, Sawiris’s departure is particularly significant because of his long-standing ties to the country: ten years ago he founded a family investment office there, in 2018 he bought Aston Villa football club, and in the same year he founded a foundation in Great Britain that has since donated more than $60 million (£45 million) to humanitarian causes.
Forbes estimate
Sawiris comes from the richest family in Egypt (his brothers Naquib and Samih Sawiris are also billionaires), and his fortune is estimated at around $9.3 billion, making him one of the 375 richest people in the world.
He owns a 5% stake in the company Madison Square Garden Sports, the owner of the NBA team Knicks and the NHL team Rangers, and he bought Aston Villa in partnership with Wes Edens (Wes Edens) from the Fortress Investment Group. He manages one of the world’s largest producers of nitrogen fertilizers, is a major shareholder of Orascom Construction and has an almost 6% stake in the German sports giant Adidas.
Who else is leaving the UK?
Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal (Lakshmi Mittal), whose fortune is estimated at 28.6 billion dollars, left Great Britain last year and moved to Dubai and Switzerland. Shipping magnate John Fredriksen (John Fredriksen) last year put his house in London worth 337 million dollars for sale, with the message that “Britain has gone to hell”, after which he moved to Dubai.
Investor Christian Angermayer has moved to Switzerland after a decade of living in Great Britain, calling the changes to tax laws “a big mistake” and “potentially more self-inflicted than Brexit.”
Key background
According to Henley & Partners, the UK is losing wealthy residents faster than any other country. More than 16,000 millionaires left the country in 2025, while between 2014 and 2024, the number of millionaires fell by 9%.
China, India, South Korea, Russia and Brazil are also showing a similar trend, for reasons such as tax changes, political instability, war and the search for a better quality of life. On the other hand, the United Arab Emirates, USA, Italy, Switzerland and Saudi Arabia attract the largest number of wealthy immigrants.
Trends in the luxury real estate market
The Knight Frank report points out that markets such as Miami, Abu Dhabi, Mumbai and Brisbane are experiencing strong changes in the luxury segment. Among the destinations that attract the ultra-rich this year, Rome’s Via Veneto and Lake Como in Italy, Silberküste by Lake Zurich in Switzerland, as well as New York’s Upper East Side and California’s Pacific Palisades stand out.
Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes
Billionaire Nassef Sawiris Closes London Investment Office—Latest Ultra-Rich Blow Over Tax Rule
