After moving his home base to the United Arab Emirates - a jurisdiction without personal income or capital gains taxes - Desmond reorganized control of his London-based investment company. In April, he registered RCD Global Wealth Holdings in Jersey to own Northern & Shell, replacing a network of trusts he used for more than a decade with one top company.
The streamlined setup reflects Northern & Shell's "increasingly international outlook." Jersey, a UK crown dependency with low taxes, also provides relief on dividends paid overseas, with comparable treatment for UK companies sending payouts to the island.
Its portfolio spans London property, a UK lottery stake, and unnamed public stocks.
There is a banking pivot too. The company now lists Emirates NBD PJSC among its lenders after previously naming only UK, US, and Swiss banks over the past decade. It also disclosed that it is pursuing a sale of a 15 acre development in east London, positioning for a liquidity event that could help fund moves beyond the UK. The firm remains subject to UK business taxes, and it reported more than £100 million of tax losses at year end that could offset future bills.
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Nassef Sawiris, an Egyptian investor, and Troels Holch Povlsen, a Danish tycoon, have already withdrawn funds from British companies while paring back their UK residency ties. Fellow British billionaire Chris Rokos is relocating to Greece, where his hedge fund is establishing an office after opening another earlier this year in Abu Dhabi.
"This is a trend," said David Lesperance, a Thailand based tax and immigration adviser to the ultra rich. "The UK's 'golden geese are leaving.'" The immediate exit does not automatically strip tax linked to UK assets, but it can spark restructurings that shift focus and loosen ties as fortunes are rebuilt abroad.
Desmond's playbook shows how domicile, holding companies, banking relationships, and asset sales can move the center of gravity of a fortune. He built his wealth through media - publishing adult titles, buying the owner of the Daily Express and Daily Star for £125 million in 2000, then acquiring Channel 5 a decade later - before selling down those assets from 2014 and turning to property and other ventures. That pivot included an unsuccessful attempt in recent years to operate the UK's National Lottery.
A representative for Desmond did not respond to requests for comment. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index pegs his wealth at about $1.5 billion. The bottom line: if more UK based billionaires reorganize like this, expect more capital and decision making to track where they live, not where they started.
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