One of the world’s richest people has announced he is moving to the US in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election.
n billionaire Anthony Pratt, who is a member of Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago Club and has a net worth of around $12.3 billion, said he was granted a green card for permanent residency last month.
Pratt, who is ranked number 207 in Bloomberg’s list of the 500 wealthiest people in the world, owns -based paper and recycling company Visy.
He also owns Pratt Industries, a corrugated packaging company based in Conyers, Georgia.
Writing on LinkedIn, he said he had decided to make the move because all his family are US citizens, and because of his business prowess in the country.
Pratt’s relationship with the President-elect was thrust into the spotlight in 2023 amid reports Trump had spilled secrets about US nuclear subs to him.
n billionaire Anthony Pratt, who is a member of Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago Club, said he was granted a green card for permanent residency last month
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Trump disputed the reports at the time, calling them ‘fake news’ and branding Pratt a ‘red haired weirdo.’
In the LinkedIn post announcing his move, Pratt wrote: ‘Over the past 30 years we have invested to build 70 factories in America, creating 12,000 well-paying American manufacturing jobs.’
The 64-year-old billionaire added that he would remain chairman of Visy and will return to the country regularly.
Visy is one of ‘s largest private firms, while Pratt Industries is the fifth-largest corrugated packaging company in the US.
In 2019, Pratt invited Trump to visit one of Visy’s paper recycling plants in Wapakoneta, Ohio.
The group has annual sales of around $10 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
In 2023, ABC News first reported that Trump had discussed potentially sensitive information with Pratt shortly after he left office.
The outlet claimed that the businessman had gone on to share the information with several others following the revelations at Trump’s private club, where he became a member in 2017.
The information was reported to have been about the number of nuclear warheads the US has, and how close they can get to Russian subs.
In response to the reports, Trump branded Pratt a ‘red haired weirdo from ‘ in a post on his social media site Truth Social.
‘I never spoke to him about Submarines, but I did speak to him about creating jobs in Ohio and Pennsylvania, because that’s what I’m all about – JOBS, A GREAT ECONOMY, LOW TAXES, NO INFLATION, ENERGY DOMINANCE, STRONG BORDERS, NO ENDLESS WARS, LOW INTEREST RATES, and much more!,’ Trump wrote in October 2023.
Pratt has since been interviewed by US law enforcement agencies, according to Bloomberg.
In 2023, ABC News first reported that Trump had discussed potentially sensitive information with Pratt shortly after he left office (Pictured: Trump and Pratt on a tour of a Pratt Industries plant in Ohio in 2019)
Pratt, who is worth around $12.3 billion, owns -based paper and recycling company Visy, and Pratt Industries, a corrugated packaging company based in Conyers, Georgia
In response to the reports, Trump called Pratt a ‘red haired weirdo from ‘
Pratt’s move to the US comes following Trump’s comeback victory in the presidential race against Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris.
The stock market has soared following the news, with two of America’s main three stock indexes hitting record highs on Friday.
A sweeping Trump victory powered bets of a business-friendly agenda, with expectations of lower corporate taxes and looser regulations.
Billionaire businessman Elon Musk has been tipped to join the Trump administration in some way, creating the suggestion that other tech and business leaders may join him.
Joe Lonsdale, founding partner of venture capital firm 8VC and co-founder of controversial data mining company Palantir, claimed last week America’s business ‘A-team’ is going to reform government spending under a second Trump administration.
‘We’re seeing a lot of top talent going in to reform government,’ the businessman, who endorsed Trump in the election, said on CNBC.
‘There’s a huge amount to cut, there’s a huge amount to fix.’