Five billionaires who moved to the UAE: John Fredriksen is the latest

Dubai: Driven by regulatory reforms, favourable tax policies, and the introduction of long-term Golden Visas, the UAE, particularly Dubai, has firmly established itself as a global magnet for wealth migration. According to the latest Henley & Partners Private Wealth Migration Report, at least 9,800 millionaires are expected to relocate to the UAE in 2025, reinforcing the country’s rising status as a premier destination for high-net-worth individuals seeking stability, opportunity, and strategic advantage.

John Fredriksen, the Norwegian-born shipping magnate and the UK’s ninth-richest individual, has recently relocated significant business operations from London to the UAE. He cited the UK government’s decision to scrap its long-standing “non-dom” tax regime as the primary reason for his move.
With a fortune exceeding $10 billion, Fredriksen built one of the world’s largest oil tanker empires. His shift to the UAE marks a symbolic moment in the broader outflow of global wealth from Britain.

Michael Edward Platt is a British billionaire hedge fund manager and co-founder of BlueCrest Capital Management, Europe’s third-largest hedge fund firm. Since launching the firm in 2000, he has developed BlueCrest into a global powerhouse, managing more than $35 billion in assets at its peak.
With a personal net worth of $18.8 billion, Platt relocated his primary residence and family office to the UAE in June 2025. BlueCrest had earlier expanded its footprint in Dubai after receiving regulatory approval in 2022.

Shravin Mittal, founder of Unbound and Managing Director of Bharti Global Ltd, represents the next generation of one of India’s wealthiest business dynasties. Unbound is a long-term, globally focused technology investment firm.
At 37 years old, Mittal is the largest individual shareholder in UK telecom giant BT Group Plc. In April 2025, he registered a new Abu Dhabi branch of Unbound, marking a high-profile relocation amid the UK’s increasingly stringent tax reforms.
The Bharti family controls 24.5 per cent of BT Group, and their estimated combined net worth of $27.2 billion underscores the strategic and symbolic significance of this move.

The Russian technology entrepreneur and founder of the encrypted messaging platform Telegram, Pavel Durov, has been based in Dubai since 2017, where the company also established its global headquarters.
After leaving Russia in 2014 due to mounting political pressure, Durov and his brother Nikolai chose the UAE as a long-term base. Now a UAE citizen, Durov was ranked the 120th richest person in the world in August 2024 by Forbes, with a net worth of $15.5 billion.
He was named the richest expatriate in the UAE by Forbes in 2022 and recognised as Dubai’s most powerful entrepreneur by Arabian Business in February 2023.

Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris is the country’s wealthiest individual, with an estimated net worth of $9.6 billion. He holds a 30 per cent stake in OCI NV, one of the world’s largest nitrogen fertiliser producers, along with significant holdings in Adidas (6%) and LafargeHolcim (3.4%), the world’s largest cement company. In late 2023, Sawiris relocated his family office, NNS Group, to the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM)—further positioning the UAE as a rising hub for elite international wealth management.