Weekend reading: Who wants to see a billionaire?

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  Maven

  1 Wolverine's barber October 10, 2026, 1:31 pm

  Dear The Investor – can I please praise you to the heavens for being a superb online media resource curator (as well other many things). I have never come across The New World website but I have added the bookmark to the many others that I have picked up through Monevator. To say that you are ” well read” is an understatement!
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  Maven

  2 Matthew Ainsworth October 10, 2026, 1:37 pm

  Billionaires are more wealth than income I believe, because of compounding. The money from their wealth I believe wouldn’t sit in the country that holds the assets but in the underlying assets that it’s invested in down on the ground – and those companies would still generate corporation tax and vat (if you credit that to the business rather than the consumer)

  I realise they’re our top income tax payers, but i’d be interested to know how the taxes that come from the underlying investments regardless of where they live, the corporation tax + vat that billionaires’ assets generate compares to the taxes that come from being UK resident (income, capital gains + dividend + iht), I’m imagining they’re far more important for taxes that their wealth generates simply from being deployed here even if they’re not tax resistant here

  But still, if they do live here, the taxes they generate is very significant, and perhaps vat isn’t appreciated as much as it could or should be.

  So really even if we dont do well on tax attractiveness we could primarily aim to make the UK somewhere where they want to vacation/spend – resident or not. Maybe build a spaceport, since rockets are the new yachts. Build the fancy golf courses, yacht dock, maybe even a billionaires only theme park
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  Maven

  3 old_eyes October 10, 2026, 1:40 pm

  Checked in for my weekend update and saw only an initial paragraph and no comments.
  “Heavens!”, I thought, “The Myrmidons of the active funds have finally caught up with Monevator. They will have vanished into an offshore black site”.

  Fortunately, I had just been signed out for some reason. So, on with the weekend’s reading. Less exciting, but probably more useful.
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  Mogul

  4 Nearly There October 10, 2026, 1:58 pm

  @TI excellent weekend reading and think piece as usual. One item is harder to reach though: there’s a link missing for The Week under the robot overlord section.
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  Mogul

  5 Daz October 10, 2026, 5:04 pm

  Don’t worry only about the billionaires leaving. There is a full on brain and wealth drain.
  Doms as well as non doms. The skilled young, the entrepreneurs, the top end bankers and lawyers.
  From Tyson Fury to Chris Rokos. From Ed Sheeran, to the tech visionaries who refuse to move to the UK.
  Over half my peer group have left. I think HMRC will have a shock in January.
  It’s not only about tax, it’s government hostility and unpredictability. And if you leave you go somewhere with a better business environment.
  For the UK it’s a tragedy.
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  Maven

  6 The Investor October 10, 2026, 5:06 pm

  @Wolverine’s Barber — Thanks so much! Much more is read than makes this list (it’s like an iceberg) so on that definition of well read you are certainly correct 😉

  @Matthew Ainsworth — I do think it would be better if we somehow celebrated big taxpayers. Invariably the words “grubby mitts” or similar is written next to them. If they were doing it via charity they’d be lauded (albeit it is more laudable as noble) although I suppose the rough treatment Bill Gates received on that score might work against that theory.

  @old_eyes — Eek, you worried me for a moment there. 😉

  @Nearly There — Oops, apologies! Thanks for flagging, added now.