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A billionaire businessman says Britain only has itself to blame for an exodus of the super-wealthy as he blasted Labour's 'stupid' abolition of the non-dom tax regime.
David von Rosen, a German billionaire living in Dubai, says the ultra-rich are treating the UK with great caution as a place to do business amid rising tax rates.
Henley & Partners' annual research into where the super rich are living found that 11,300 dollar millionaires left London in the last year, including 18 centimillionaires - those with $100million to their name - and two billionaires.
Mr von Rosen, founder of gambling firm Lottoland, says he loves London - but does not live here, instead splitting his time between Switzerland and Dubai, where he says he has invested some $200million in property.
The billionaire made his start in student finance before launching fashion label VONROSEN - which sold out of a run of its black cashmere sweaters after Apple founder Steve Jobs wore one during his final on-stage presentation in June 2011.
'I'm a big fan of London and the UK. I frequently travel there, but looking at what how the wealthy and the very wealthy are being taxed, it is strange and stupid,' he told MailOnline.
'Between capital gains tax and the non-dom taxation, it is a very stupid thing to do. (Wealthy) people are looking at Dubai, or the US, with the gold card Trump visa.
'The very wealthy want to live somewhere with a good lifestyle but where they pay zero tax, or very low taxes. The UK has to understand there are other places where we have that lifestyle available.
'People will turn their back on their own country and move away and that is never good. You need these wealthy people and their business - they're spending money, buying cars, houses and apartments and now they will take it elsewhere.'
Billionaire David von Rosen has blasted the 'stupid' decision by the UK Government to end the non-dom scheme for foreign-domiciled UK residents
German-born Mr von Rosen splits his time between Switzerland and Dubai (pictured), where tax regimes are more favourable to the uber rich
He has called on Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves (pictured at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January) to consider reversing the changes
Under the changes to the non-dom regime, confirmed last October, non-tax-domiciled UK residents can longer pay the Government a fee of either £30,000 or £60,000 to avoid paying tax on foreign income.
The status had enabled people who live in the UK, but have a permanent home elsewhere for tax purposes, to avoid being taxed on their foreign income.
Instead, they will now receive 100 per cent relief for their first four years of UK residence before being subject to tax on all of their income.
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These changes have been blamed for the huge number of millionaires, centi-millionaires and billionaires fleeing London in the last 12 months.
London has dropped out of the top five cities for the super-rich and has seen the number of millionaires drop by 12 per cent in the last decade from 245,100 to 215,700.
Alongside Moscow, it is the only city to see its wealthy population shrink since 2014. Among those fleeing as of late are self-professed 'gypsy billionaire' Alfie Best and Pimlico Plumbers founder Charlie Mullins.
Labour has since eased off on the non-dom crackdown, submitting amendments to the Finance Act that enhanced the 'temporary repatriation facility' that allows non-doms to declare foreign income from before the new tax year in exchange for a lower rate of tax.
Mr Von Rosen acknowledges that aspects of the non-dom system are 'unfair': living in Verbier, he pays less tax than Swiss citizens.
But non-dom regimes need to be 'competitive' in order to entice people - and their contributions to the economy - to remain, he said.
'You have to understand that there is worldwide competition - we live in a globalised world and if they (the ultra-wealthy) don't go to the UK they will go elsewhere.'
The German businessman says the super-rich are also likely to avoid investing heavily in Britain because of changes to capital gains tax on assets such as shares.
As a result von Rosen - estimated to be sitting on a 1.5billion Swiss francs (£1.38bn) fortune spread across multiple businesses and property - says many are now treating the UK with a degree of caution, and investing elsewhere.
'With the current government, I would be very careful of investing more,' he said.
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von Rosen set up the VONROSEN fashion label - which attracted admirers such as Steve Jobs, who wore won of their black sweaters for his final Apple address in 2011 (pictured)
Around 10,000 millionaires have left London in the last year (pictured: offices in the City of London)
'They just want to tax anyone that is successful, which is not the answer. I would much rather invest in a place like Dubai - which I am. They roll out the red carpet.
'I would still be interested in investing in (British) start-ups. The UK is a country of great entrepreneurs with great ideas but they are also leaving too, coming to the UAE, to Dubai, to Singapore.
'(The UK government) has become a bunch of naysayers and very pessimistic.'
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And were he to have Chancellor Rachel Reeves' ear, he is unequivocal in what he would ask: for the non-dom scheme to be retained, and the capital gains tax changes to be reversed.
'We need a functioning market for startups. If you think about a company becoming successful - that is why we do it in the first place.
'But you pay so much capital gains tax on it that it would only need to be half as successful in another country to be just as successful (as an investment).
'This is very short-sighted. The government might get more money now but in the long term what's going to be the consequence of it? It's a short-term win but a much greater loss.'
Social and cultural issues may also be playing a part in the exodus, from the 'Rolex rippers' who left the uber-rich scared of wearing their pricey watches outside to those who, Mr van Rosen says, scratch the cars of people doing better than them.
'I'm not the flashy type but in Dubai you do see pink Ferraris and golden Lamborghinis, and that's good, people like to show off,' he added.
'It creates an atmosphere of motivation - people want to work more. I don't see that in the UK or in Europe, where it's seen as something bad.
'I find that jealousy gives people a reason to turn their back. Cars get scratched.
'London is one of only two cities in the top 50 which lost a lot of rich people - the other one is Moscow. If you're number two on that list you're doing something very wrong. Starmer and his government need to see that.'
The Treasury was contacted for comment.
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