Late Herbert Wigwe linked to 106 London properties

By Editor

Late Nigerian banker, Herbert Wigwe, has been linked to the ownership of 106 properties in London, placing him seventh among billionaire real‑estate holders in the British capital, according to a report by The Londoner.

The investigation — titled Revealed: The billionaires who really own London — uncovered some 32,611 overseas‑owned properties across the city after a recent change in UK law required foreign entities to disclose their beneficial owners.

The report found that these disclosures allowed researchers to connect previously hidden owners to prime real estate in London, including several high‑profile streets and commercial locations.

“But now, The Londoner can reveal that some 32,611 properties in London are owned by overseas entities. We can do this because a recent change in the law is forcing these foreign companies to register their real owners.

“We’ve spent the last week, using data compiled and shared with us by Dan Neidle of Tax Policy Associates, to go through thousands of those overseas entities to see who has bought up properties in the capital,” the report stated.

The Londoner report identifies 32,611 London properties owned by overseas entities. These include famous streets like Oxford Street, Canary Wharf, and Greenwich Peninsula.

Wigwe, who died in a helicopter crash in the United States in February 2024 along with his wife, son, and former NGX Group chairman Abimbola Ogunbanjo, was ranked seventh on the list of billionaires with the most London properties.

Before his death, Wigwe served as Group Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings Plc, one of Nigeria’s largest financial institutions.

Since his passing, his family has been involved in litigation over his estate.

The Londoner’s findings show that a significant number of London’s most expensive buildings are owned through companies based in jurisdictions such as Jersey, where ownership details were previously opaque.

The database used by the publication was compiled from newly released disclosures by overseas owners.

The report also identified other wealthy individuals and entities whose property portfolios in London are held through overseas companies, highlighting the scale of foreign investment in the city’s real‑estate market.

Details in the investigation included ownership structures that were not previously publicly available.

The Punch