The UK’s ninth richest billionaire, Norwegian-born shipping tycoon John Fredriksen, has said “Britain has gone to hell” and has moved his business out of London in the latest worrying sign of the huge exodus of wealth from the capital.
The 81-year-old, who owns one of London’s most prestigious private homes, The Old Rectory in Chelsea, is now said to spend most of his time running his empire from the United Arab Emirates.
The oil tanker magnate, whose wealth was estimated at around £13.7 billon in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List, is the latest in a series of wealthy foreign-born London residents who are quitting the UK – or at least loosening their links – because of Labour’s scrapping of the non-dom tax regime and their disillusion with Britain’s poor economic prospects.
He made his outspoken criticism at the Nor-Shipping event in Oslo earlier this month.
Asked by Norwegian title E24 about his feelings for the UK, Fredriksen said: “It’s starting to remind me more and more of Norway. Britain has gone to hell, like Norway.”
The billionaire, who became a Cypriot citizen nearly 20 years ago, added: “I try to avoid Norway as much as I can.”
The comments came after it emerged he has closed the London headquarters of Seatankers Management, one of his private shipping businesses, which was based on Sloane Square.
Fredriksen, the son of an Oslo welder, left Norway in 1978 and bought his Grade II listed riverside Chelsea mansion for £37 million in 2001 from rival Theodore Angelopoulos of Greek tanker group Metrostar/Metrofin.
The property is now estimated to be worth as much as £250 million, making it one of Britain’s most valuable private residences. In 2004 former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich reportedly offered £100 million for the home but was turned down.
The home includes ten bedroom suites and a vast ballroom, as well as a swimming pool and a tennis court.
The Old Rectory was once home to the rector of Chelsea parish church, and dates to 1725. Its secluded two acres of gardens are among the largest of any private home in London.
Former rectors include when George Valerian Wellesley, brother of the Duke of Wellington and Charles Kingsley Sr, father of Charles Kingsley, author of the Water Babies. It is not thought to be currently on the market.
Wellington is said to have planned the Battle of Waterloo on its lawns.
In the interview Fredriksen, widely known as JF in the shipping industry, added: “The entire Western world is on its way down.”
“People should get up and work even more, and go to the office instead of having a home office.”
