AC36: INEOS Team...Monaco?
LONDON (#1179) – Multiple UK media reports today are saying that Sir James Ratcliffe, owner and team principal of the Royal Yacht Squadron's AC36 challenger INEOS Team UK skippered by Sir Ben Ainslie, is moving to Monaco to avoid billions in taxes. The headline in today's Daily Mail....
In a story that broke Sunday in the Times of London by Oliver Shah and Caroline Wheeler, and picked up widely across the UK today, it was reported that, "Britain’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who was knighted less than a year ago for his services to business and investment, has been planning to avoid up to £4bn in tax after switching his home and his fortune to Monaco."
None of the media reports scrutinized by Sailing Illustrated has mentioned the status or future of INEOS Team UK. Presumably they will remain as the RYS Challenger representing GBR. We have reached out to the team for comment and will follow up with any reply received from them in the meantime on our Tuesday TFE LIVE webcast, as always at 1300 Pacific (2100 UTC) on our SI Facebook page.
Read the full Daily Mail article from today (Monday in the UK) here.
Sir James Ratcliffe with Sir Ben Ainslie at the London announcement in April 2018 that Sir James had become the owner and team principal of Sir Ben's 2021 America's Cup challenger, since known as INEOS Team UK.