It is the size of Chris Rokos’s tax bill that gives pause. A cool £330 million. Yes, the hedge fund founder is leaving London, to set up in Athens. Yes, he is extremely wealthy, worth an estimated £2.9 billion. But that isn’t what sets his decision apart. Plenty of other entrepreneurs have departed the UK. Likewise, a fair number of them are ultra-rich. But none have contributed as much to the nation’s public coffers as Rokos.
The 55-year-old Londoner is third on the list of current highest-paying UK taxpayers, only exceeded by Betfred owners Fred and Peter Done and their families (£400m) and financial trader Alex Gerko (£331m). If Rokos’s exit does not sound alarm bells inside Downing Street, then it should.
