Britain’s wealthiest Brexit backer is moving to Monaco

Sir Jim, who has previously claimed that he was ‘optimistic’ about the future of the UK after Brexit, has chosen to leave the country months before the decision is implemented.

The founder of chemical giant Ineos, he was named in this year’s Sunday Times rich list as Britain’s wealthiest individual with an estimated fortune of £21 billion.

The Telegraph reports that he will leave his country of birth for the Principality on the Mediterranean coast, where residents do not pay income tax.

The billionaire, who was knighted earlier this year, has been an outspoken backer of Brexit. In May 2016 he was one of more than 300 business leaders who signed a letter to the Telegraph calling for Britain to vote to leave the European Union.

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He previously told the Sunday Times: ‘The Brits are perfectly capable of managing the Brits and don’t need Brussels telling them how to manage things.’

He also told the BBC that the UK needs to ‘retain our sense of humour’ in Brexit talks, and that the country should be able to succeed because the ‘Brits are reasonably well-liked’ in Europe.

In 2016, after the referendum, Ratcliffe moved his business from Switzerland to London claiming that he was ‘optimistic not just about the future of Ineos, but also the future of the UK’.

While his business will remain in London, he and fellow executives Andy Currie and John Reece will move to Monaco, according to the Telegraph. The newspaper reports that the reasons for the move are not known, but the businessman already owns property there.