“If you can own our most famous football club – you can pay tax. Obviously.”
A new billboard poster on a building in Manchester reads: “If you can buy Manchester United you can pay more tax.”
The advert was produced by the campaign group Everyone Hates Elon. It features Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and has been installed on the side of a city-centre building ahead of the government’s Autumn Budget. It forms part of a wider series targeting billionaires and calling for higher taxes on extreme wealth.
Everyone Hates Elon formed this year in protest of Musk’s statements about British politics and promotion of disinformation. The group creates parody adverts and viral social media campaigns to criticise Musk and other billionaires.
Their latest campaign focuses on Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the British billionaire who acquired a 27.7 percent stake in Manchester United in February 2024. Ratcliffe is the chairman and CEO of the Ineos chemicals group, which he founded in 1998.
According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2023 , Ratcliffe’s net worth was estimated at £29.688 billion, making him the second wealthiest figure in the UK at the time.
In September 2020, Radcliffe officially changed his tax residence from Hampshire to Monaco, a move estimated to save him £4 billion in tax.
Earlier this year, eco-activist, entrepreneur and Labour donor Dale Vince, described Ratcliffe as a “billionaire tax exile,” criticising predicted redundancies and cost-cutting measures at Manchester United under his ownership.
“Costs are cut, lives affected while the football decline continues. This is what happens when a billionaire tax exile takes over a football club.
“Football is about community and being a part of something, Jim Ratcliffe doesn’t get that.”
In an Instagram post to their 167,000 followers, Everyone Hates Elon addressed the Prime Minister directly:
“Hey @KeirStarmer you’re talking about “tough choices” in this month’s budget, how about just getting tough on the billionaires.
“JimRatcliffe owns almost a third of the UK’s most famous football team. He has a home here. He works here. Yet he “moved” to Monaco to avoid paying £4 billion in tax.
“If you can own our most famous football club – you can pay tax. Obviously. The 50 richest families in the UK have more wealth than half of the country combined, yet they’re playing the game with a completely different set of rule. It’s a p*ss take.”
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