Chris Rokos leaves UK for Greece, the hedge fund founder taking his estimated £2bn fortune to Athens in a move that could cost the Exchequer around £330m a year in lost tax revenue. His departure follows Greece’s introduction of a flat annual tax of around €100,000 (approximately £86,000) on all overseas income for wealthy foreign residents.
Rokos, who founded Rokos Capital Management, paid more than £300m in tax in the UK last year alone, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, which placed him third among the highest individual taxpayers in the country. That Rich List estimate of his last UK tax bill is the basis for the £330m annual figure the Exchequer now stands to lose.
Bloomberg first reported the move to Athens. Rokos Capital Management declined to comment. The Treasury was also approached for comment.
What Greece’s flat tax regime requires
Greece’s offer to wealthy arrivals goes beyond the headline tax figure. According to Grand Pinnacle Tribune, to qualify for the special tax regime, foreign residents must invest €500,000 in Greek property, businesses or financial instruments. In return, they pay the flat annual levy on all overseas income rather than tax on their worldwide earnings at normal rates. The same source reports that the regime can be applied for up to 15 years, giving wealthy arrivals long-term certainty over their tax position, a type of commitment difficult to find in the UK’s current fiscal climate.
For Rokos, the maths is straightforward. A flat €100,000 annual charge on foreign income represents a fraction of what he was paying in the UK, where his tax bill ran to hundreds of millions of pounds.
Chris Rokos leaves UK amid broader wealth exodus
His departure is one in a lengthening sequence. In 2025, City AM reported that Goldman Sachs vice president Richard Gnodde left the UK following the government’s crackdown on non-domicile residents. Others who have moved include Aston Villa co-owner Nassef Sawiris, Checkout.com founder Guillaume Pousaz and steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal.
The UK’s non-dom regime, which had allowed wealthy foreign nationals to avoid paying tax on income earned outside the country, was abolished by the Labour government. The change was formalised in statute: from 6 April 2025, according to IMI Daily, HMRC abolished the remittance basis of taxation and replaced domicile with tax residence as the connecting factor for UK tax liability. Wealthy individuals who had previously structured their affairs around domicile status lost their primary planning tool.
The government has also scrapped the VAT exemption on private schools, increased capital gains tax rates and announced plans for a new levy on high-value properties. Scores of Labour MPs have publicly backed a wealth tax, which would impose a two per cent annual levy on assets valued at over £10m.
Tax experts and economists have warned that a wealth tax would deter investment and lead to lost revenue, with administration costs across Whitehall also rising. Andy Burnham has said he wants wealth creators to remain in the UK, though he has faced questions about his stance on taxing the rich. Chancellor John Healey also stated his support for wealth creation in a recent speech on the UK economy.
A more immediate risk may lie in capital gains tax. Cabinet minister Wes Streeting described a higher levy as a ‘wealth tax that works’. Conservative campaigners, however, argue the opposite: that a higher rate would cause investors to defer disposals, reducing rather than increasing revenue.
Capital gains tax receipts in the 2024/25 tax year came to £127bn, an 82 per cent increase on the prior year, a figure that complicates the case for further increases. Simon French, chief economist at Panmure Liberum, said: ‘The dynamic, behavioural effects of policy are more significant with capital gains taxes than almost any other part of the tax system. The latest data pours cold water on the idea that there is a pot of recurring tax revenue to go for here.’
The record receipts figure reflects, in part, a rush by investors to crystallise gains ahead of the rate increases already announced, a one-off effect that will not repeat at the same scale. Whether the government pursues further rises regardless will determine, in part, how many more names appear on the list that now includes Rokos.
