Celebs Who Have Given Up Their American Citizenship (2024)

Known as one of the most prominent poets of the 20th century, T.S. Eliot is a key figure in English Modernist poetry — even though he was born in Missouri. As Eliot’s career began unfolding, he saw himself becoming more successful in Great Britain. He moved to England when he was 25, received an Oxford education, and got married. To solidify his British citizenship, he dropped his allegiance to the U.S. when he was 39.

Brazilian-born Eduardo Saverin became an American citizen when he was 16. Saverin co-founded Facebookand in 2012, he made headlines when he renounced his U.S. citizenship just before the company went public. He became a citizen of Singapore to save himself millions in taxes from his fortune in Facebook. Even though Saverin was still responsible for federal income taxes and an exit tax, he was able to dodge capital gains on his 53 million shares of Facebook’s stock.

Famous sociologist and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois traveled to Ghana in 1961 when he was 93 to oversee an encyclopedia project. While he was abroad, the United States refused renewal of his passport, causing him to give up his citizenship and become a citizen of Ghana instead.

According to accounts from several family members, actor and director John Huston despised life in Hollywood. In 1964, Huston renounced his American citizenship and moved to Ireland, saying he had more of an appreciation for Irish culture than American. Artists also get a tax break in Ireland.

Grammy-nominated songwriter Denise Rich has penned songs for big-name artists including Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin, and Chaka Khan. Born in Massachusetts, Rich renounced her American citizenship in 2011 in favor of Austria to be closer to her husband and family.

Ted Arison was born in Tel Aviv and became an American citizen to chase a business career after serving in the Israeli military. After founding the Carnival cruise line, Arison became one of the richest businessmen in the world. Two years after buying the basketball team Miami Heat, Arison renounced his citizenship and returned to Israel to avoid estate taxes.

To skate around U.S. tax law, Russian-American actor Yul Brynner worked on short projects and claimed tax-exempt status. The government eventually caught on and threatened to charge him fees and penalties for “overstaying,” which would have bankrupted him. Brynner got himself out of hot water by renouncing his American citizenship altogether.

Though she was a French entertainer, Josephine Baker was born in the U.S. Baker was also a civil rights activist who was disgusted by racism in America. To make a stand, she refused to perform for segregated audiences, but after growing more and more tired of being subject to racial discrimination, she renounced her citizenship and became a citizen of France.

Terry Gilliam was the only member of the Monty Python comedy troupe who was born in America. He spent many years of his life as a dual citizen of both the U.S. and England, but in 2006, he let go of his American roots and became a sole citizen of England to avoid U.S. estate taxes.