The co-founder of an angel investment company which funds early-stage blockchain and Web3 projects has sparked controversy after announcing his plans to leave the UK to move to Dubai.
Oli White, who is also a social media star with over 2.5m YouTube subscribers on his main channel, posted on X to his 1m followers to give his reasons for the move.
鈥淚鈥檝e lived in London for about 10 years or so and when I first moved here it was so exciting, there were so many opportunities and it was just an amazing place to be,鈥� he said.
鈥淏ut after the thing that happened where we couldn鈥檛 leave our houses (Covid-19 lockdown), things just changed.
鈥淟ondon has never been the same. The UK has never been the same – it鈥檚 unsafe.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 even walk down the road with your phone without fear of someone stealing it.鈥�
White co-founded OWL Ventures in December 2020, nearly six years after launching his media production company OWL Productions and over eight years after beginning his YouTube journey in August 2012.
Since the company鈥檚 launch over four years ago, it has a portfolio of 18 clients, including New York-based software development company Botanix and San Francisco-based animation and post-production firm Wilder World.
It was his comedic YouTube content, however, that gave him the basis to start the company.
He has amassed over 700m views on the site over his channels – OliWhiteTV, OliWhiteVlogs and OliWhiteGames – and has over 7.5m followers across various social media platforms.聽
It hasn鈥檛 been all sunshine and rainbows though for the 30-year-old.
He explained: 鈥淚鈥檝e felt so uninspired from a work perspective but also just living my life.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 really felt inspired to do anything, I haven鈥檛 pushed myself and I haven鈥檛 grown as a person.
鈥淏ecause of that, I knew that something really big needed to change and that is moving to a different country.鈥�
White went on to list the positives of moving to the most populous city in the UAE.
He said: 鈥淚 first visited Dubai about eight years ago with my family and I was just blown away with this place.聽
鈥淢y auntie鈥檚 lived here for about 20 years and she鈥檚 always told me, 鈥榯his is the place where you want to move, this is where it鈥檚 happening, this is where the world is moving.鈥欌��
鈥淪he was right. It鈥檚 sunny all year round here, it鈥檚 one of the safest cities in the world – you can leave a watch or a handbag on the side in a restaurant and no one will even look at it.
鈥淵ou pay zero tax here. The opportunities are absolutely endless.鈥澛�
Moving to the UAE from the UK isn鈥檛 something that White is alone in.
According to the Expat Insider鈥檚 2023 Report, there are more than 240,000 British expats estimated to live in Dubai alone, as well as over 5,000 British companies operating in the UAE.
The country鈥檚 hotspots – Dubai and Abu Dhabi – have become a popular destination for both tourists as well as those looking for a permanent move outside of the UK.聽
This did not, however, prevent White from receiving backlash online for his decision.聽
One user wrote: 鈥淚鈥檒l never understand British people moving to Dubai.聽
鈥淎 soulless, socially conservative dictatorship with no culture made up of some skyscrapers in a desert. Literally can鈥檛 think of a worse place to move.鈥�
Domestic abuse campaigner David Challen added: 鈥溾�楥ontent creators鈥� who leave the UK claiming London is 鈥榰nsafe鈥� while calling Dubai a crime-free utopia only see their privilege and wealth, never the stark reality鈥�
鈥淒ubai isn鈥檛 some progressive paradise. It鈥檚 a place where women can be jailed for reporting rape, punished for pregnancy outside marriage, and trapped in abusive marriages with no legal recourse.
鈥淭hese 鈥榗reators鈥� aren鈥檛 fleeing for safety, they鈥檙e fleeing tax bills. They build their wealth in the UK, then take it somewhere else to avoid contributing to the society that enabled their success.
鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing progressive about hoarding wealth while refusing to give back, especially when the 鈥榰topia鈥� they run to is built on exploited foreign labour with no rights.鈥�
White has not addressed any comments since uploading the video and there is little information on how he will continue to operate his many companies.聽
As well as his aforementioned businesses, he is also the co-founder of UNIQUE CBD and UNIQUE NOOTROPICS.
鈥楴ational Insurance rise will hammer business 鈥� but we鈥檒l survive鈥�