(Bloomberg) -- Patrick Drahi has transferred his official residency to Israel, signaling a departure from the telecom billionaire’s longstanding base in Switzerland as he turns his focus to the Middle East.
Drahi’s Next Alt Sarl holding company lists an address in central Tel Aviv, according to a December corporate filing. The change of residency was for personal reasons, including family, according to a person familiar with his motives, who confirmed the move. The person asked not to be identified discussing private information.
Drahi already has strong links in Israel through control of telecom operator Hot Telecommunication System Ltd., part of Altice International. He also launched Tel Aviv-based news channel i24News in 2013. Earlier this year, he signaled that he wanted to spend more time in the country.
The Israel move comes at a volatile time for the tycoon after a reported probe into his tax affairs in Switzerland and pressure on his telecoms empire to cut its huge debt pile. It also suggests possible changes to the way he manages his empire, as well as his own personal tax obligations.
Drahi has long listed Swiss addresses in corporate filings, including in a 2019 document for a French real-estate company. He has a net worth of about $5.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
In October, two months before the most recent filing, Drahi also listed a road on the Caribbean island of Nevis as his address. Previously, in documents dating back to Next Alt’s creation in 2015, the Alpine resort of Zermatt, Switzerland, was listed.
Drahi is known to regularly spend time on Nevis in a luxury property, and has even sought modifications to the island’s airport to accommodate a private jet, according to French television station France 2’s Complement d’Enquete program.
Drahi has French, Israeli and Portuguese passports, as well as from St Kitts & Nevis, a person familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing private information.
A spokesman for Drahi declined to comment.
The Luxembourg-based Next Alt holding company controls large portions of Drahi’s business assets, including Altice France.
Drahi built up a constellation of companies over three decades into one of Europe’s biggest telecommunications providers. Last year, Drahi signaled his willingness to potentially put everything up for sale to cut leverage, but Altice has since made clear it’s not planning to repay debt in full.
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