Egyptian billionaires Nassef Sawiris and Mohamed Mansour wrongly counted in $160 billion UK exodus

Egyptian billionaires Nassef Sawiris and Mohamed Mansour should not have been counted in Bloomberg’s estimate that a $160 billion billionaire exodus has hit the United Kingdom, according to a review published by the Tax Justice Network on Monday.

Bloomberg reported on Oct. 4 that people on its Billionaires Index who had loosened or cut ties with Britain over the past two years held a combined $160 billion. It said about half of the group left before April 2025, when Chancellor Rachel Reeves abolished the non-domicile regime, which had let wealthy residents pay UK tax only on money earned in Britain or brought into the country.

The Tax Justice Network, a campaign group that backs higher taxes on the wealthy, said Bloomberg’s own data and sources do not support the figure. It found that about half of the 14 people on Bloomberg’s “Moving out” list failed at least one of two tests: a move within the past two years, or wealth that belongs to the individual.

Because Bloomberg did not define “the past two years,” the group used May 2024, when Britain’s general election was called, as its starting point. It then checked Bloomberg’s valuations against filings at Companies House, the UK corporate registry.

Sawiris, Egypt’s richest person, failed the first test, the group said. Bloomberg had already reported his move in December 2023, months before the election was called. The review noted that Sawiris himself did not blame the current government. “You can’t blame Labour,” he told the Financial Times, pointing instead to years of Conservative rule.

Sawiris, who built his fortune through Orascom Construction, fertilizer maker OCI and a stake in Adidas, moved to Italy and the United Arab Emirates. His investment group NNS moved its main base to Abu Dhabi in 2024, and he closed NNS Advisers, his London family office, in April. He co-owns English football club Aston Villa.

Mansour failed the second test, according to the review. Bloomberg’s $18 billion valuation of his wealth is more than four times Forbes’ estimate of $4 billion, and more than double Forbes’ $7.2 billion figure for all three Mansour brothers combined. Bloomberg’s own 2022 valuation of the whole family was $6.8 billion, the group said.

Mansour, who chairs the Mansour Group and served as Egypt’s transport minister, moved back to Egypt. His family’s conglomerate runs General Motors and Caterpillar dealerships, consumer goods businesses and investments. He was previously senior treasurer of Britain’s Conservative Party.

The review also disputed several other names on the list. It said private equity investor Jeremy Coller left Britain in April 2024, before the election was called, and returned in May this year. It said most of the $23.3 billion attributed to Shravin Mittal belongs to his father, Indian billionaire Sunil Mittal, who controls Airtel Africa’s parent and lives in India. Shravin Mittal is deputy chairman of Airtel Africa, which is incorporated in Britain and listed in London.

The group also said Danish retail billionaire Troels Holch Povlsen’s $5.3 billion is tied to clothing company Bestseller, which his son Anders has run from Denmark since 2001. It added that Norwegian shipping magnate John Fredriksen has no economic interest in the trusts that hold shares Bloomberg credited to him.

Only $39 billion, or 24%, of the $160 billion was based in Britain to begin with, the Tax Justice Network said. After adjusting for the entries it disputes, that falls to $31.5 billion, much of it in hard-to-move assets such as real estate and two English football clubs.

The group argued that a change of residence often says little about where wealth is held, invested or taxed. Non-doms, it said, already paid tax much like non-residents, so their formal moves mostly reflected an existing tax position rather than money leaving the country.

The review is the latest challenge to claims of a wealth flight from Britain. Other departures cited by Bloomberg include hedge fund manager Chris Rokos, who is moving his tax residence to Greece, and property investor David Reuben, who moved to Monaco this summer.