Half of billionaire wealth gone in two years

Good evening,

Sobering new data has revealed the scale of the wealth exodus facing Britain, with super-rich residents worth a total of £121bn either distancing themselves from, or just upped and left, from the UK. That’s according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and presents a fresh headache for the Chancellor ahead of his first Budget later this month.

And that’s not all that John Healey has to contend with… There’s a crunch meeting tomorrow with bank bosses, with relations between the Treasury and the banking sector not appearing to be quite as rosy as they were this time last year.

And the CCHQ comms team will be feeling chuffed this afternoon, as the Conservatives scored Jeremy Clarkson as a surprise speaker at their party conference. Kemi Badenoch and co will be hoping that some of the former Top Gear presenter’s star power rubs off on the Tory brand.

Have a great evening!

Matt

The figure represents more than half of all billionaire wealth in the UK, the analysis said, and comprises the fortunes of a slew of high-profile entrepreneurs including steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, Aston Villa co-owner Nassef Sawiris and shipping magnate John Fredriksen.

Since entering office two years ago, ministers have unveiled a string of tax reforms aimed at reducing wealth inequality in the UK and raising revenue.

Among the most high-profile changes are the decision to end inheritance tax carve-outs applied to farms and family businesses, the introduction a mansion tax on homes worth more than £2m and ploughing ahead with a pre-election promise to abolish the non-dom regime, a centuries-old carve out allowing wealthy foreigners to pay tax only on income and assets in the UK.

Clarkson said government officials failed to understand the impact of changes facing family farms as some owners had to sell land. 

Speaking on stage at the Conservative Party conference, the Diddly Squat farm owner said a decision to cap the 100 per cent agricultural property relief for inheritance tax at land and business assets totalling £1m. A government U-turn in late 2025 then led Labour ministers to raise the threshold to £2.5m. 

“I think they didn’t understand it when they introduced it,” Clarkson said. “With a farm it’s completely different because you’d have to sell a bit of it, making it even less profitable, or you’d sell the whole lot.”

When banking lobbyists geared up for an offensive ahead of the 2025 Budget, a tax cut barely made the wishlist.

Modest in their ambitions, advocates were preparing to settle for anything that didn’t see their already eye-wateringly high tax bill rise. That is until, City AM understands, officials advised them to make a cut a top priority in order to balance out the fierce calls for a hike. 

UK Finance and TheCityUK would both go on to call for the banking surcharge – which sits on top of corporation tax – to be “phased out” in their 2025 submissions.

Under Rachel Reeves tenure in the Treasury, the surcharge never went up. But in just over four weeks, her successor John Healey will deliver his first Budget – and banks may have a less favourable friend in No.11.

Central London was hit by a major power cut on Monday that stretched across dozens of postcodes and left swathes of the City in darkness.

According UK Power Networks (UKPN), the body responsible for the upkeep of the electricity network, 33 postcodes were affected by the outage, including thousands of homes and major businesses in the Square Mile.

The UK’s second-largest supermarket chain held preliminary talks with its private-equity-owned rival over a merger of the two firms between November 2025 and February this year, it is understood.

There are no active talks between the two sides but the two parties have not ruled out the possibility of discussions restarting in the future. 

We investigate the mystery of Nigel Farage’s wristwatch. Could the so-called man of the people really wear a £40,000 Patek Philippe Calatrava? 

Andy Blackmore starts digging and finds a surprising answer…

The £900m figure is more than double the valuation at which Woody Johnson acquired 43 per cent of the south London club a little over a year ago, for a reported £190m.

But Johnson and fellow owners Josh Harris, David Blitzer and chairman Steve Parish believe the rising valuations of sport teams, the scarcity of London Premier League clubs and Palace’s recent success in the Conference League justify the ask of close to £1bn.

Palace declined to comment but have made no secret of the fact that investment is required to complete their Selhurst Park expansion. Sources close to the 2025 FA Cup winners insist that investment, not a sale, is their priority. 

Last week, we heard our new Prime Minister champion the UK as the future global “innovation nation”. But despite these warm words, he spectacularly failed to back Britain’s risk takers. Startups received just one mention in his speech and nothing he announced was aimed at backing entrepreneurs or those who invest in them.

And my fear as an investor and physicist is that despite the many positive steps taken by Labour in the last two years, if the October Budget aligns capital gains tax (CGT) with income tax, it will be a body blow to the innovators of this country. Higher CGT means less British money in British companies and cheaper targets for foreign investors to snap up.

If our rare successes are taxed further, more of our spinouts will end up sold early to foreign buyers and we risk losing their IP, writes Dr Ben Miles.

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