When British billionaire Frederick Barclay appeared in the London High Court in 2022, accused by his ex-wife of failing to pay out on their record £100 million divorce settlement, the judge couldn’t say where the estimated £7 billion ($14.4 billion) family fortune was held.

Despite an empire that included the Ritz hotel and Britain’s Telegraph newspaper, the tycoon argued he could not access his wealth, which was tied up in various complex trust structures controlled by his nephews. “I have no evidence that Sir Frederick has access to any material funds, despite the great wealth that [he and his twin brother] Sir David built up,” the judge concluded in 2023. He added that it was “extraordinary that the former wife of one of the country’s most successful businessmen” was in such a predicament.