Shravin Bharti Mittal, 37, heir to one of India’s wealthiest families and a key stakeholder in BT Group Plc with a 24.5% share, has left the United Kingdom (UK) and established residency in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The move comes amid growing discontent among ultra-wealthy individuals over Britain’s increasingly stringent tax regime.
Mittal’s departure is part of a wider trend that sees younger billionaires following in the footsteps of older generations, relocating to more tax-friendly jurisdictions. According to a company document from the Bharti Mittal conglomerate—whose total fortune is valued at $27.2 billion by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index—Mittal had previously declared the UK as his residence.
A deep investment footprint in the UK
Mittal has long been embedded in the UK’s financial landscape. A graduate in Accounting & Finance from the University of Bath, he began his career as an analyst at JPMorgan Chase in London, later transitioning into private equity before joining the family business, Bharti Enterprises. The conglomerate, founded by his father Sunil Mittal, spans telecommunications, finance, real estate, and hospitality.
He served as managing director of Bharti Global until the family acquired their BT stake from Patrick Drahi. Following that acquisition, and coinciding with his move to the UAE, Shravin’s sister Eiesha Mittal, 41, assumed his former position.
Crackdown on ‘non-dom’ taxpayers fuels wealth flight
Mittal’s exit underscores how Britain’s tax reforms are prompting an exodus of high-net-worth individuals. In March 2024, the Conservative government sharply curtailed the favorable tax treatment of ‘non-domiciled’ residents’ foreign income, slashing the qualifying period from 15 years to just a few. The situation worsened in July when the newly elected Labour government eliminated inheritance tax exemptions for foreign assets held by non-doms.
The policy shift has already driven other wealthy individuals to relocate. Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris, for instance, now lists Abu Dhabi and Italy as his primary residences. Leonidas and Nicholas Lazari of the British-Cypriot Lazari family have moved their tax domicile to Cyprus to benefit from its more lenient tax regime.
According to estimates from the Centre for Economics and Business Research, if even a quarter of the UK’s 74,000 non-doms choose to leave, the country could face a significant loss in tax revenue—further intensifying the debate over the long-term consequences of these reforms.