Iceland's 'first billionaire' leaves Britain for Italy and warns of 'exodus' of millionaires

By OLIVIA CHRISTIE, NEWS REPORTER Published: 00:36, 19 July 2026 | Updated: 00:53, 19 July 2026 An Icelandic billionaire has left Britain for Italy - as he warned of an 'exodus' of the super rich after Labour came to power.  Thor Björgólfsson, known as the Nordic country's first billionaire, changed his tax residency over the last year - and has also moved his investment firm Novator from London to Zurich. His relocation comes amid fears that Labour's decision to scrap non-dom status, which allowed some high-net-worth individuals to avoid paying full UK tax on their overseas earnings, is pushing them out of the country.   Mr Björgólfsson said in an interview with Bloomberg that the number of rich businessmen leaving Britain 'is an exodus, it's not been hype'. He said: 'It's amazing how fast it has happened. The collateral damage is exploding elsewhere.'  In April last year, Chancellor Rachel Reeves controversially replaced non-dom rules with the Foreign Income and Gains Regime - after announcing the move in her October Budget.  Under the new system, wealthy arrivals are exempt from paying tax on their foreign earnings for four years, provided they were not a resident of the UK in the preceding decade.  Thor Björgólfsson, known as the Nordic country's first billionaire, changed his tax residency over the last year - and has also moved his investment firm Novator from London to Zurich In April last year, Chancellor Rachel Reeves controversially replaced non-dom rules with the Foreign Income and Gains Regime Mr Björgólfsson's move to Italy places him on a growing list of individuals who have quit Britain since Labour came to power two years ago.  Those who are known to have left include Nassef Sawiris, the Egyptian co-owner of Aston Villa FC, who has also shifted his tax residency to Italy.  Meanwhile, brothers Ian and Richard Livingstone, who oversee a £9billion property empire in the UK and abroad, have quit Britain for Monaco. Mr Björgólfsson was the biggest owner of one of Iceland's largest banks - Landsbanki - that collapsed during the financial crisis in 2008.  Referring to a meeting he had with an advisor to Sir Keir Starmer, along with other business leaders, he said: 'What worries me is that the Government kind of made a mistake and realised they'd made a mistake.' He called on Labour to introduce a flat-rate tax system, similar to in Italy, that places a limit on the amount of tax entrepreneurs and business leaders need to pay.  Several billionaires have been open about their reasons for leaving, with Mr Sawiris blaming Labour's inheritance tax clampdown and a 'decade of incompetence' under the Tories. Britain's ninth richest billionaire, John Fredriksen, declared last year that Britain had 'gone to hell' as he explained his reasons for moving his shipping firm from London to the United Arab Emirates. The Norwegian had previously run his private firm, Seatankers Management, from an office in Sloane Square. But he told newspaper E24 that the UK had become a worse place to do business. 'It's starting to remind me more and more of Norway,' he said. 'Britain has gone to hell, like Norway. Your browser does not support iframes. 'People should get up and work even more, and go to the office instead of having a home office.' Non-domiciled means UK residents whose permanent home, or their 'domicile' for tax purposes, is outside the UK. The regime meant that so-called non-doms paid tax in the UK only on income generated in the UK - meaning any income earned overseas was exempt from British taxation. However, the Labour Government abolished the non-dom tax status in April following backlash that wealthy residents could enjoy the benefits of living in the UK without paying as much tax. Previous chancellor Jeremy Hunt estimated that scrapping the regime would raise about £2.7billion for the Treasury by 2028-29. A Treasury spokesman said: 'If you make your home in Britain, then you should pay your taxes here too.  'That is why we abolished the non-dom tax status. It will also allow us to invest around £39.5bn over the next five years in our public services we all use, including the NHS. 'The UK is a highly attractive place to live and invest – our main capital gains tax rate is lower than any other G7 European country and the new residence-based regime is simpler than the previous one, whilst also addressing tax system unfairness.'