The Billionaires who Bought a Second Passport

According to the Forbes Billionaire list, more than 10% of the world’s billionaires are expats, and many of them hold multiple citizenships. The citizenship of private people is rarely public knowledge, so we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg. 

Residence and Citizenship planning has become a new “must” in elite circles. In emerging countries, it offers protection against civil unrest and currency depreciation. For those in the business world, a second passport opens lucrative doors. A passport with a lot of travel restrictions will inevitably constrain its holders’ ability to conduct business on a global scale.

You obviously don’t have to be a billionaire to look for a better passport or a second residence in a safe and stable country. Good second passport programs start at USD 100,000, and many wealthy families simply get a second passport so they can travel for leisure. 

Residence & Citizenship planning also involves building wealth for the next generation. It makes financial sense when it’s time to think about inheritance. Taxation is also another reason why a second residence makes financial sense. In the last few years, many Americans have picked up a second citizenship. 

This trend was perhaps accentuated by social unrest back home, but it’s traditionally part of the process of estate planning. The US taxes its citizens wherever they live. To eliminate their tax liability, Americans must forfeit their citizenship and go through the Exit Tax process. Given the level of taxation imposed on inheritance in the US, many have already taken this step. Now that it seems evident that taxes will be raised sooner or later to compensate for the pandemic, many Americans are jumping ship.

What seems like a new thing for Americans has long been popular in the rest of the world. Whether it’s Germans going to Switzerland or Chinese going to Hong Kong, so many have picked up new citizenships that it’s impossible to count. Given that many countries do not allow dual citizenship, many people keep it a secret. Making a list of billionaires that have gained a second citizenship via a Residence by Investment program would be a big job. Many of them have gained citizenship in places like Canada, the USA, or the UK, so we’ve compiled a list of those that we know have gained it via a Citizenship by Investment program.

Citizenship by Investment, or CBI, enables foreigners to become naturalized without any prior residence in exchange for a specific investment in a country. Out of the dozen countries that offer CBI programs, only 3 have naturalized billionaires.

Cyprus

There are so many new naturalized billionaires in Cyprus that Forbes can’t keep track of them all. Cyprus has been particularly attractive to Russian and Israeli billionaires. One of them, Nikita Mishin, dropped off the Forbes list this year. But the addition of Eric Schmidt of Google means the island has its newest richest man. This might be the country’s last new billionaire for some time. The Cyprus Economic Citizenship program was suspended in the summer of 2020 for review. It’s expected to return in 2021.