ALFIE Best says he will soon be the UK’s first Gypsy billionaire and claims Britain is full of rich travellers keeping their identities a secret.
The business mogul, 54, has amassed a staggering worth of £947million after founding caravan park empire Wyldecrest Parks.
Arthur Edwards / The SunAlfie says he will soon be a billionaire[/caption]
Vandercom FilmsHe sold his helicopter shortly before moving to Monaco[/caption]
Dan CharityHe owns a number of properties following the success of Wyldecrest Parks[/caption]
He now resides tax-free in Monaco, but also owns a lavish £7m mansion in Surrey along with a fleet of classic motors.
Alfie was named as one of the UK’s 350 wealthiest men and women in Britain on the Sunday Times Rich List last month.
His wealth rose by £202m alone last year, meaning he is well on the way to becoming Britain’s first Romany Gypsy billionaire.
But he revealed there are many other rich travellers in the UK, many of whom are hesitant to publicly disclose their wealth due to a stigma attached to their backgrounds.
Alfie told MailOnline: “There will definitely be many more gypsy billionaires in Britain because gypsies and travellers are true entrepreneurs that have been held back through stigma.
“We have had some fantastic and truly great stars who have hidden their gypsy identities.
“Only now we see more and more gypsies allowing themselves to be accepted for the positives that they can bring.”
It comes after Alfie celebrated his Rich List success on a £9m superyacht before splashing out on a £500,000 Rolls Royce.
His assets also include a £10m yacht moored in Cannes and a £4m townhouse in Knightsbridge, central London.
It is a far cry from the roadside trailer home in Leicester where he grew up.
Alfie now lives in Monte Carlo after deciding to leave the UK for the millionaire’s playground earlier this year.
Discussing his decision to live in tax exile, he told The Sun: “Look, I love Britain through and through but it seems we’ve lost our way.
“We’re chasing our business entrepreneurs out the front door.
“Sir Jim Radcliffe’s left, Sir James Dyson said he’d never leave but he went, Richard Branson’s left, too.
“The list goes on. They can’t all be wrong.”
Alfie is renting a two-bedroom apartment overlooking the famous Formula One racetrack until he gets residency.
Upon his arrival in the country, he was greeted with an elaborate birthday bash.
Invitees and star guests were greeted with an elaborately decorated 18-seater dining table, and tasteful goodie bags filled with gifts including perfume and hair combs.
Alfie Best: Humble beginnings to gypsy billionaire
ALFIE was born in a gypsy caravan on the side of the road near Leicester in a snowstorm.
He quit school in Broxbourne, Herts, age 12, because he had already been working for two years, hawking Tarmac door-to-door with his dad.
By the time he was 17 he became a car dealer after selling a Ford Escort for £1,100 before moving into vans and mobile phones.
Nearly 25 years ago, aged 30, he set up Wyldecrest Parks, buying his first 120-mobile home site near Romford, Essex, for £1.7million.
The company now has more than 16,000 residents at over 100 sites from Inverness to Lands End employing 400 people.
The company recently expanded into the USA where US tycoon Warren Buffett – the fifth richest person on the planet – is a rival park owner.
Alfie also owns Wyldecrest Events, which owns some of the most expensive hospitality boxes at venues in the UK, and he is launching Best Wealth Network for aspiring tycoons.
In May, the next edition of the Sunday Times Rich List is expected to record Alfie’s fortune at £947million. If he sold his company tomorrow he would get more than a billion for it.
His wife Emily-Jane, son Alfie Jnr and daughter Elizabeth, who sits on the company’s board, will continue to live in the UK when the tycoon moves to Monaco.
He added: “There was a party put on for me at the yacht club, it was a bit overwhelming.
“I consider myself just to be a nobody so for them to go out of their way and and put a party on for me, sometimes you’ve got to pinch yourself that these things are actually happening.
“The welcome here has been immense, I can only thank the people of Monaco.”
Wyldecrest Parks opened its first site in Essex 24 years ago.
It’s now ballooned to an empire of more than 100 mobile home sites from Scotland to Cornwall with 16,000 residents and a staff of 400.
Annual profits top £70 million.
As well as his holiday property empire, Alfie is also the owner of non-league East Thurrock United, which he snapped up during Covid.
Vandercom FilmsAlfie Best is the owner of East Thurrock United[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
