New Monegasque residents Ian and Richard Livingstone are putting Monaco back at the centre of the game
Ian and Richard Livingstone own the Fairmont Monte Carlo Hotel © Fairmont Monte Carlo
The two brothers have made their multi-billion fortune in property, buying up undervalued assets and patiently building a global hotel empire – including in Monaco, where they have owned the recently and expensively refurbished Fairmont Monte Carlo since 2007.
Renowned for their discretion, Ian and Richard Livingstone are the latest Britons to officially take leave of the UK, where the Labour government has decided to remove tax provisions that favour the ultra-wealthy.
By extension, the recent arrival of the two businessmen highlights Monaco’s renewed attractiveness. In addition to its tax regime, the Principality offers the world’s biggest fortunes incomparable security, confidentiality, and quality of life.
Exodus of Britain’s ultra-rich highlights Monaco’s appeal
Monaco has two new residents since the spring – and noteworthy ones at that: Ian and Richard Livingstone. British nationals, the two brothers officially packed up and left London, where they were born and raised, between late March and early April 2025.
They headed for the Principality, a long, long way from the British capital, where the two billionaires patiently built a real estate empire, London & Properties, now worth some £9 billion.
But why Monaco, and why now? The Livingstone brothers are far from being the only ultra-rich people to flee London’s grey skies for the sunshine of the Côte d’Azur. Over the last few months, a veritable exodus has been taking shape, and it cannot be explained by the relaxed Riviera lifestyle alone.
There is a reason behind wealthy individuals leaving the UK: the change in the tax system. And the face of that change belongs to Rachel Reeves. Appointed after the Labour Party’s general election victory in July 2024, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer – the UK equivalent of the Minister of the Economy and Finance – has implemented reforms that are upsetting the fiscal status quo, which has been in place in Great Britain for several centuries.
Determined to fill a “22 billion black hole” in the UK’s public finances, Rachel Reeves has, along with other measures, done away with the ‘non-dom’ (non-domiciled persons) status. Established in 1799, this allowed individuals who reside in the UK but whose permanent domicile for tax purposes is considered to be outside the UK, to avoid tax on income and capital gains generated abroad, for up to fifteen years.
According to New World Wealth, a global wealth intelligence firm based in South Africa, the hunt for UHNWIs ( Ultra High Net Worth Individuals ) has led to some 10,000 millionaires (a figure that has risen by 157%) leaving the UK for more clement fiscal skies, in 2024 alone.
Top of the list is Monaco, renowned for its stability and mild climate. “Monaco, with its favorable taxation, political stability, and amazing quality of life, has become an attractive alternative,” Francesco Grosoli, CEO of private bank CMB Monaco, recently told us.
In his opinion, many wealthy individuals “value Monaco (…) for its financial advantages, but also because they know their personal lives and assets are protected here.”
“In Monaco,” the banker continues, “there is both physical and digital security. The importance of this cannot be overstated, especially in the current geopolitical context.” And Francesco Grosoli points out that its proximity to major European cities and its excellent health and education systems, mean the Principality “really has it all” in terms of appeal for UHNWIs.
These are arguments that have convinced other major British fortunes, such as Sir Jim Ratcliffe, whom we profiled in January. The Ineos petrochemical group founder and part owner of Manchester United moved to Monaco in 2018, from where he now manages his empire and philanthropic activities.
Ratcliffe’s new neighbours will be the Livingstone brothers, the latest British exiles to arrive in the Principality, where the two billionaires already own some premium assets, including the Fairmont Monte Carlo hotel.
From hotels to fitness clubs to online gambling: where the Livingstone brothers’ fortune comes from
8.5 billion dollars: that is Richard and Ian Livingstone’s combined wealth, according to the Bloomberg index of the world’s 500 richest people.
Like many other successful entrepreneurs, the two brothers did not appear destined to become billionaires. Sons of a dentist father, Ian and Richard were born and raised in the 1960s in Ealing, West London. Both were educated at St Paul’s School, a renowned private institution, before opting for careers that were far removed from international finance: optometry for Ian, while Richard trained as a surveyor.
Things didn’t really take off for the brothers until 1989, when Ian opened his first eyewear store, called Optika. It was so successful that in just three years the young entrepreneur bought the David Clulow high-end optician chain, growing it to several dozen outlets and a value of £20 million.
The brothers’ entrepreneurial adventure was launched. With a formidable flair for unearthing undervalued property assets, Richard began buying and selling flats he had picked up cheaply in the West End of London during the recession of the early 1990s.
“Gradually,” recalls a friend of the entrepreneurial duo, “lots of small deals got bigger and bigger.” Backed by Jacob Rothschild’s merchant bank, Dawnay Day, the two brothers founded London & Regional Properties in 1987, as well as a myriad of companies intended to acquire commercial properties of all kinds: cinemas, fitness clubs, retirement homes and so on.
But it is in the luxury hotel sector that Ian and Richard have made their mark over the years, acquiring such prestigious establishments as Cliveden House, the Park Lane Hilton , The Lensbury and The Trafalgar. Not to mention hotels in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Miami, and even a recent $700 million mini-city project in Panama.
Ian and Richard Livingstone’s fortune was made. But that didn’t stop the two brothers, who have been diversifying their investment portfolio and investing in new technologies with characteristic flair since the mid-2010s.
The British pair have a 17% share in Evolution AB, a Swedish company that is as unknown to the general public as it is profitable – it supplies turnkey online casino games to over 300 operators worldwide.
A good move for the two businessmen: in 2020, when the whole world was in lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic, Internet users flocked to online gambling sites and applications. Evolution AB’s share price doubled in value, and the entrepreneurs pocketed £700 million. Jackpot.
A makeover for the Fairmont Monte Carlo
Brothers Ian and Richard are not exactly newcomers to the Principality, having bought the iconic Fairmont Monte Carlo in 2007. Right on the Mediterranean shore, the 4-star hotel boasts almost 600 rooms and suites, some of which overlook the“Hairpin”, the legendary turn in the equally iconic Monaco Grand Prix – a fact that makes the hotel a particularly popular destination for Formula 1 fans.
In 2019, London & Properties secured a €250 million loan from BNP Paribas to carry out a top-to-bottom renovation of the Monegasque hotel. The work was completed at the end of 2024, with all the rooms being refurbished and redesigned in an understated style with “Riviera” colours.
As the hotel celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, “it’s the start of a new story,” enthused Alexandre Ariel, the Fairmont’s general manager, in January. A new story that Ian and Richard will be able to write first-hand.
A new golden age for Monaco?
The Livingstone brothers’ extraordinary fortune has not gone to their heads, however. Despite their success, Ian and Richard remain “charming, very intelligent, and actually very modest people,” a close friend told MoneyWeek.
Ruthless in their business dealings, the brothers are known, in their private lives for their “so British” reserve – interviews with Ian and Richard are rare, extremely rare in fact.
Speaking of private lives, Ian’s is shared by journalist Nathalie Livingstone, with whom the businessman has three daughters; as for Richard, he married property developer John Burns’ daughter Claire in 1997. They are now divorced.
But the ‘real’ Livingstone couple is the one he forms with his brother, and it was together, as always, that the two men left London for Monaco.
Freshly settled in Monaco, will the Livingstone brothers decide to become more involved in the Principality’s economic and social life? It’s still too soon to say, but they will undoubtedly be getting involved in Monaco’s many philanthropic initiatives, while maintaining their legendary discretion. Their charitable activities to date have supported programmes for British children, made in England fashion and London universities.
In any event, the arrival in Monaco of two of the UK’s wealthiest individuals is of the utmost symbolic importance, as it testifies to the Principality’s renewed appeal to UHNWIs and successful entrepreneurs from all over the world. The start of a new golden age for Monaco?