Report links Herbert Wigwe to 106 London homes — ranks 7th among global billionaire owners

Fresh revelations about the secret ownership of prime London real estate have drawn renewed attention to Herbert Wigwe, the late Nigerian banker, who has been named among the largest offshore property holders in the British capital.

An investigation by The Londoner found that Wigwe was linked to 106 properties across London, placing him seventh on a list of wealthy individuals with extensive holdings in the city. The report, titled Revealed: The billionaires who really own London, examined more than 32,000 properties held through overseas entities.

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The findings were made possible by recent changes in the United Kingdom law requiring foreign companies to disclose their true owners. The shift is part of a broader effort to improve transparency in the property market, long criticised for allowing wealthy individuals to shield assets behind complex offshore structures.

According to the publication, a significant number of London’s most valuable properties are registered to companies based in St Helier, the capital of Jersey, a British Crown Dependency often described as a tax haven. In total, 2,224 high-value properties were traced to firms registered on the island.

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Wigwe, who led Access Holdings Plc until his death, appeared on the list alongside international figures including John Corless, Sarah Bard, Simon Reuben, Alexander Bard, Rit Thirakomen, and Wolfgang Peter Egger.

“This investigation lifts the veil on who really owns large parts of London,” the report noted, adding that “legal transparency reforms are beginning to expose the scale of offshore wealth embedded in the city’s property market.”

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Wigwe died on February 9, 2024, in a helicopter crash near the Nevada border in the United States. He was travelling with his wife and son, along with Abimbola Ogunbanjo, the former group chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group) when the aircraft went down. All six people on board were confirmed dead.

A final report by the National Transportation Safety Board found that the probable cause of the crash was the pilot’s decision to continue flying under visual rules despite deteriorating weather conditions.

Since his death, disputes over Wigwe’s estate have surfaced in Nigeria. In February 2025, members of his extended family challenged a ruling by a Lagos high court, signalling an ongoing legal battle over the distribution of his assets.