High-Profile Figures Who Walked Away From US Citizenship

Many of us often think the grass is greener on the other side. We see what others have and long for something similar and the same can be said for living abroad. Life can seem ideal in other countries where social, economic, political, and healthcare systems are different which we typically equate to better. Many people felt this way and took a chance. These are high-profile figures who walked away from U.S. Citizenship.

Nothing is ever perfect or ideal, and changing your citizenship isn't a guarantee that it will be better but there is also a good chance that life will be beyond expectations. According to a recent survey, almost a third of U.S. expats have plans to renounce their American citizenship or are "seriously considering it." When you renounce U.S. citizenship you give up the right to government protection, access to federal jobs, and unrestricted travel into and out of the country. Your children will not be U.S. citizens.

To compile a list of high-profile figures who walked away from U.S. citizenship, 24/7 Tempo reviewed various sources including Tax-Expatriation, Britannica, and PBS. The reasons these well-known people chose to stop their U.S. citizenship include tax avoidance, political principles, ascension to a royal title, and simply their intention to never return to the States. (These are the countries Americans are moving to the most.)

• Occupation: Writer
• Year citizenship renounced: 1915

Henry James was a famous author of numerous novels, including 'The American' and many short stories and novellas. During the late 1800s he spent a lot of time in Europe and became increasingly disillusioned by the materialism of the U.S. He set up a home in England in 1876 but did not stop being an American citizen until 1915 in protest about America's initially neutral stance at the outbreak of WWI.

• Occupation: Poet and playwright
• Year citizenship renounced: 1927

The famous poet, T.S. Eliot, penned several well-known works including "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and "Murder in the Cathedral." He was born in St. Louis but moved to England in 1914 to study at Oxford University. He began to spend so much time in England that he felt like a "squatter" and decided to become a British subject in 1927.

• Occupation: Dancer
• Year citizenship renounced: 1937

Racism was behind Josephine Baker's decision to relocate from her homeland in 1937. The dancer achieved great success at the Folies Bergère dance venue in Paris where she performed as a member of an all-black revue. She was a key supporter of the French Resistance efforts in WWII but was appalled by the treatment of African Americans in the U.S. Later she was a huge supporter of the civil rights movement.

• Occupation: Socialite/philanthropist
• Year citizenship renounced: 1937

The fabulously wealthy Barbara Hutton led a blessed life as a New York socialite marked by her lavish debutante ball. However, her quest for love remained unfulfilled as she married seven times. In 1935, she married Count Kurt von Haugwitz-Reventlow of Denmark and moved to her husband's native home. She renounced her U.S. citizenship and became a Danish national two years later.

• Occupation: Actor
• Year citizenship renounced: 1954

Oona O'Neill renounced her U.S. citizenship in 1954 to be with the man she loved. The daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill married 54-year-old motion-picture icon Charlie Chaplin in 1943. She was just 18 at the time. Chaplin was denied re-entry to America because he would not answer accusations of communist sympathies. However, the couple did return for Chaplin to pick up an honorary Academy Award in 1972.

• Occupation: Inventor
• Year citizenship renounced: Early 1960s

Ever wondered where the name 'Tupperware' came from? Inventor Earl Tupper thought them up during WWII. He called them 'wonderbowls' and fashioned them from a block of polyethylene provided by DuPont. After huge success, he sold the company to Justin Dart of the Rexall Drug Company for $16 million! His move to Costa Rica and his renunciation of U.S. citizenship in the early 1960s was largely to avoid paying taxes.

• Occupation: Writer/civil rights activist
• Year citizenship renounced: 1963

W.E.B. Du Bois left the country to stop being a U.S. citizen. The African-American sociologist, author, and civil rights activist was 93 when he moved to Ghana to manage the Encyclopedia Africana project in 1961. Having been refused a U.S. passport renewal when he was there, he decided to become a Ghanan citizen instead and died there in 1963. He mentioned Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

• Occupation: Filmmaker
• Year citizenship renounced: 1964

John Huston is another creative who left America in protest about U.S. politics. The Academy Award-winning director was known for his work on "The Maltese Falcon" and "Key Largo," to name just two. He objected to the actions of the House Committee on Un-American Activities to such an extent that he emigrated to Ireland in 1952 and renounced his U.S. citizenship in 1964.

• Occupation: Actor
• Year citizenship renounced: 1965

Actor Yul Brynner had a few options when it came to citizenship. He had been born in Russia but held a dual Swiss-U.S. passport. Perhaps best known for his role as the Siamese monarch in "The King and I," Brynner lived mostly outside America. He tried to claim tax-exempt status in American law by working on short projects but the government wanted to impose hefty tax penalties. To avoid these he renounced his U.S. citizenship.

• Occupation: Opera singer
• Year citizenship renounced: 1966

Even though she was a Greek native, opera singer Maria Callas was a naturalized American citizen. However, she had several reasons for renouncing her U.S. citizenship, and getting out of her marriage to Italian industrialist Gianni Meneghini was one of them. News reports claimed that she was having an affair with Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. By taking her Greek nationality, her marriage was no longer a problem – according to her lawyers.

• Occupation: Actor
• Year citizenship renounced: 1966

The story around actor Elizabeth Taylor's citizenship is far from straightforward. Her parents were American but she was born in the U.K. Nevertheless, thanks to her American heritage she received U.S. citizenship. Her family moved to the U.S. at the outbreak of WWII where her iconic career took off.

Strangely, she tried to renounce her American citizenship in the mid-1960s but no one knows why. Having initially failed, she succeeded in 1966. Some reports say following her later marriage to politician John Warner, she tried to get it back.

• Occupation: Artist
• Year citizenship renounced: 1968

The founder of the surrealist movement, Max Ernst, was born in Germany and fought for the country in WWI. However, when he found himself living in Paris during the Nazi invasion, he fled and came to America, where he met and married art gallery owner and socialite Peggy Guggenheim and became a naturalized U.S. citizen. However, the marriage did not last and when they divorced in 1946 he moved to France. With no plans to return to the U.S., Ernst became a French citizen in 1958.

• Occupation: Banker/investor
• Year citizenship renounced: 1968

The founder of the Templeton Growth Fund emigrated to the Bahamas in 1968 renouncing his U.S. citizenship. The respected banker and financier was dubbed "the greatest global stock picker of the century" by Money magazine. His reasons? To avoid pressure from Wall Street so he could make clearer investment decisions. Bahamians don't pay income or investment tax.

• Occupation: Businesswoman
• Year citizenship renounced: 1975

The famous step-daughter of former First Lady Jackie Kennedy was also the heiress to the Onassis family shipping empire. However, after her father died she renounced her U.S. citizenship becoming a dual citizen of Greece and Argentina. She also donated some of her inheritance to the American Hospital of Paris.

• Occupation: Monarch
• Year citizenship renounced: 1979

Albert II, Prince of Monaco is the son of Prince Ranier III and Princess Grace (formerly Hollywood icon Grace Kelly). Thanks to his mother, he had U.S. citizenship. However, he renounced it at the age of 21 years. As a sovereign of another country, he could not hold U.S. citizenship, too.

• Occupation: Businessman
• Year citizenship renounced: 1990

Successful businessman and co-founder of Carnival Cruises, Ted Arison, arrived in America in the early 1950s. However, fearing large taxes on his estate, he moved back to Israel in 1990 and renounced his U.S. citizenship.

• Occupation: Author
• Year citizenship renounced: 1995

Sadly, the pioneering work of Shere Hite as a sex researcher made her the target of intense criticism and death threats. Her book 'The Hite Report' may have made her a feminist hero but was also controversial. She decided to live between Germany and the U.K. and she renounced her American citizenship in 1995.

• Occupation: Businessmen
• Year citizenship renounced: mid-1990s

Successful businessmen Kenneth and Robert Dart are part of the Dart family that established the famous Dart Container foam cup business. Kenneth, heir to the business, became a Belize citizen in 1994 and renounced his American citizenship. He lives in the Cayman Islands tax haven. His brother, Robert, holds Belizean and Irish citizenship and lives in London.

• Occupation: Filmmaker
• Year citizenship renounced: 2006

One of the comedy brains behind the hugely successful Monty Python comedy is American director Terry Gilliam. Following his marriage to a British citizen he held dual British/American citizenship. However, he claimed he was tired of "paying for exciting little wars around the world" so he gave up his American citizenship.

• Occupation: Actor
• Year citizenship renounced: 2009

A native of China, actor Jet Li shot to fame in the action movie "Lethal Weapon 4," in 1998 and became a U.S. citizen five years later. However, he later settled in Singapore partly because he believed the school system was superior to America and he wanted his two daughters to grow up bilingual. He therefore had to renounce his American citizenship because the city-state does not allow dual citizenship.

• Occupation: Singer
• Year citizenship renounced: 2011

Denise Rich is the former wife of pardoned billionaire trader Marc Rich, an Austrian citizen, and is also a Grammy-nominated singer. She moved to London in 2011 giving up her U.S. passport. Some reports claimed it was to avoid a hefty U.S. tax bill on her estate.

• Occupation: Entrepreneur
• Year citizenship renounced: 2011

Eduardo Saverin is now a resident of Singapore. However, he was born in Brazil and was a U.S. citizen in the past. He was also the co-founder of FaceBook before a falling out with Mark Zuckerberg. He renounced his U.S. citizenship before the company's IPO launch in 2011 of which he owned 4 percent. This would have required him to pay a lot of tax.

• Occupation: Singer
• Year citizenship renounced: 2013

Tina Turner may have been an icon of the U.S. music scene but she was happiest in Switzerland. The now-late Ms. Turner lived there from 2013 until she died in 2023 and renounced her U.S. citizenship.

• Occupation: Investor
• Year citizenship renounced: 2014

The bitcoin entrepreneur, Roger Ver is now a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean. However, he was formerly a U.S. citizen and served 10 months in prison in 2005 for selling explosives like fireworks on eBay. He has stated that his move is not connected with taxes.

• Occupation: Politician
• Year citizenship renounced: 2016

The former British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was born in New York City to British parents and previously held dual citizenship. However, in 2016, be gave up his American citizenship. Johnson has not explained publicly why he did this although some believe it was connected with U.S. dual citizens being required to pay American taxes on income received anywhere in the world.