Richard Branson is moving a sizeable chunk of his Virgin empire to Switzerland to avoid rising costs of doing business in the UK.
Virgin Enterprise, which owns the trademarks and rights to the Virgin brand, is moving to Switzerland and is advertising for staff there. Although it is said to be a relatively small part of the business, Virgin insiders said it would become increasingly significant as the brand was franchised around the world. A source said the decision had been made to maximise “tax efficiency”. Other Virgin businesses, including Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Media, would continue to be based and pay tax in Britain.
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Sir Richard is estimated to be worth more than £3 billion and parts of his personal wealth are reported to be held in offshore tax havens.
There’s no problem with business acting rationally to save paying taxes, except when the business is fronted by a green campaigner.
The cost of doing business in the UK is rising largely because of the soaring price of energy, which in turn is largely due to the unsustainable costs of useless renewable energy. The same sort of renewable energy that Richard Branson loves enough to invest $400 million in:
The Virgin Green Fund, based in London and San Francisco, will be one of the few private-equity style funds to raise its target amount this year when it reaches its final close in September. The fund ploughs $5m-$100m into growing renewable energy sectors such as biomass and solar power in the US and western Europe.
The nice thing about being rich and clueless is that when your silly green ideas raise the cost of living above your comfort level, you just up and move to a place where you can keep more of your money. Never mind the poor saps who don’t enjoy that luxury. Sorry about your luck granny, throw another lottery ticket on the fire and you might make it through the winter.
Branson is just the latest rich activist to flee high taxes. Bono and U2 quit Ireland without a backward glance at the revenue hole the move left for their countrymen. It turns out that rich activists are rich first, activists second.
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Let’s see now, Switzerland is not part oa the EU. If Virgin Atlantic were to place it’s overseas flight hub in Geneva or Zuric he could have a significant pricing advantage over other airlines paying EU carbon offsets on intercontinental travel. There is a reason Sir Richard is so rich.
The only thing funnier would be if he lost his money in the fraud-riddled EUrotard Carbon Market.
Saving the planet and all is cool, man.
Paying taxes?? That blows.
To be fair to Sir Rich, he did fly to Australia and tell the PM that the carbon tax wasn’t a good idea, especially since he has an airline there that would have to pay carbon taxes on fuel for planes and power for buildings. I think his head is starting to clear from his earlier statements and involvements.
This is why I say Greece should secede from the Euro and the EU and set itself up as a tax haven. The Greeks weren’t paying any taxes anyway, and lets face it, nice weather plus low taxes makes for happy rich people.
Branson is not investing in green energy. he is investing in the opportunity to get State subsidies paid to green energy developers. He is tax releif farming.
Typical. An activist who thinks up a zillion ways to waste U.K. taxpayer money, yet bridles at the suggest he pay for his own loonie whimseys.
Whatever happened to his plan to annihilate plant food?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070216-virgin-earth.html