Alex Gerko

Spear’s Review

With a contribution of £665 million to the UK's coffers, Alex Gerko lays claim to the title of the UK’s biggest taxpayer, according to the 2024 Sunday Times Tax List.

The chart-topping payment by Gerko, whose algorithmic trading firm XTX Markets works with a host of institutional clients, is the largest ever payment featured in the newspaper’s annual list. It comes off the back of a £1.2 billion dividend he received from the business, of which he owns 75 per cent, and corporation tax (at 20 per cent) on £250 million in profits. The trader also topped the 2023 list from the Sunday paper, paying £487.4 million in tax over the course of 2022.

Gerko, a billionaire originally from Moscow who earned a fortune through trading, founded XTX in 2015 following time spent working as an angel investor and in FX trading. Early on in his career, he worked as an equities trader at Deutsche Bank.  

Regularly dubbed a ‘math whiz’ in the press, Gerko completed PhD studies in the subject in the early 2000s in Moscow, although he later renounced his Russian citizenship. 

Along with his family, Gerko is actively involved in philanthropy, including supporting a UK-based maths teaching initiative. He is an advocate of a wealth tax and has stated his willingness to pay ‘a ton’ for the public good, though it seems he will not hesitate to challenge HMRC when he deems it necessary.