The Global Mobility Score: How 200 Founders Are Building New Freedom Economy
As part of Freedom Business Summit 2025, we launched the Global Mobility & Freedom Score Index Survey - to understand how freedom really looks like, how it is measured and what makes people move
Five years ago, “global mobility” sounded like a buzzword for many.
Today, it’s a data-backed movement that’s redefining where capital, talent, and innovation choose to live.
In other words - it is completely different game now.
We just finished Freedom Business Summit 2025: Southeast Edition and run a simple survey where over 200+ founders, investors, and industry experts from 45+ countries participated.
We asked them one thing:
How do you design a life and business that operates globally?
Freedom isn’t a destination. It’s a strategy.
From their responses, we built the Global Mobility & Freedom Score Index - a 30-point framework measuring how “globally free” a person or company really is.
Key Insight: Freedom has become infrastructure.
Founders now build “Personal Sovereign Stacks” - personalized systems that blend residencies, global companies, multi-currency banking, and digital assets to stay mobile, tax-efficient, and independent.
🔢 The Global Mobility Score System
Freedom used to be a feeling. Now, we can measure it.
The Global Mobility & Freedom Score ranks across four dimensions:
Mobility - how easily you can relocate or live globally
Residency & Citizenship - how diversified your legal presence is
Business Setup - how borderless and tax-efficient your structure operates
Lifestyle Freedom - how independent you are from a single location, job, or system
Each participant received a total score from 1 to 30. That score revealed their stage in the global freedom journey:
Explorer - Score under 15
You’re at the start of your global freedom path. Curious, researching, maybe traveling often - but your setup isn’t structured yet. Your next step is learning fundamentals and building your first Plan B (second residency, global banking, or tax awareness).
Starter - Score 16–22
You’ve taken first steps - maybe a second residency or borderless income stream but you’re not optimized yet. Now it’s time to design your personal freedom roadmap: get multiple residencies, and incorporate for tax benefits.
Strategist - Score 23–29
You’re already living globally or running a location-independent business, but you want higher efficiency. You’re ready for advanced strategies: offshore incorporation, asset protection, and multi-jurisdiction residency structures.
Global Citizen - Score 30+
You’ve reached full location independence. Multiple residencies, efficient tax setup, and a global mindset define your life. But even the most mobile citizens need updates - new visa routes, geopolitical shifts, and evolving investment trends move fast.
This framework helps founders and professionals see where they stand - and what systems they need next to reach sovereignty. It transforms “freedom” from a vague idea into a strategic, measurable asset.
Who We Talked To
The people behind the numbers are not tourists. They’re builders of new realities.
49% are founders or self-employed professionals.
56% earn over $100-500K/year - independently.
37% run companies that operate across multiple countries.
68% are exploring residency, citizenship, or tax optimization options
90+ nationalities represented.
These are the new “sovereign professionals.” They don’t escape the system — they reprogram it.
What the Data Shows
1️⃣ Freedom is the new status symbol
When asked what motivates relocation, 72% mentioned “freedom and flexibility” before money or career growth.
We’re witnessing a mental shift - from ownership to optionality.
As Naval Ravikant said:
“Freedom is the ultimate currency.” Most respondents aren’t chasing wealth; they’re chasing leverage - location, time, and tax leverage.
2️⃣ Europe still defines legitimacy, Asia defines lifestyle
Europe remains the top relocation dream.
Portugal, Spain, and Malta lead for residency programs.
But the Southeast Asian corridor (Bali, Thailand, Malaysia) is the heart of lifestyle-driven mobility - a place where founders optimize for energy, not efficiency.
“In Europe, freedom looks like structure. In Asia, it feels like flow.”
3️⃣ Singapore and Dubai are the new gravity centers
When asked about business incorporation, Singapore and UAE dominated. They represent a deeper shift - clarity, stability, access. Incorporation is no longer about where you live - it’s about where your trust resides.
4️⃣ The Sovereign Mindset is growing
70% said that inner freedom - mental clarity, simplicity, and independence - is now more important than external success. This aligns with what we see emerging: the Freedom Stack — combining inner clarity, legal structure, and global design.
5️⃣ Taxes are not the problem — they’re the lens
Only 25% listed “tax optimization” as a pain point. For the rest, it’s a design tool. They’re not hiding - they’re aligning. The goal is not avoidance. It’s efficiency with integrity.
📊 Average Global Mobility Score: 6.4 / 10
Only 18% achieved a score above 8 - the “Fully Global” group.
Most respondents (62%) are in the “Transitioning” stage — building structure while testing lifestyles.
This confirms a key insight:
Global freedom isn’t binary. It’s a process - from survival, to systems, to sovereignty and mobility.
Why This Data Matters (for companies as well)
This data doesn’t just describe individuals. It describes a market in motion.
Banks, legal firms, relocation platforms, and education providers are now chasing this same audience: professionals who think like citizens of the world, not clients of one country.
The Freedom Business Summit was designed for them - and for you.
It’s not just an event; it’s a live research & insights engine that connects companies with high-intent, data-verified professionals.
Emerging Trends from the Data
Here’s what we’re seeing across 200 high intent respondents:
Southeast Asia remains the lifestyle hub. Bali, Thailand, and Malaysia dominate quality of life scores.
Middle East is rising. Dubai, Doha are becoming the new Singapore. Gulf countries are competing for founders with flexible visas and 0% tax.
Europe is lagging. Talent is leaving due to overregulation and taxes, bureaucracy and some safety concerns related to increasing migration
LatAm is the new wildcard. Panama, Paraguay, and Uruguay show strong interest from freedom-seekers in 2025.
North America still represents capital and credibility - the infrastructure of the old system.
But the smart play is to build with it, not inside it. Use the U.S. for structure, not residency. Use Asia for lifestyle, and the Middle East for tax and expansion.
Mobility is now global competition for human capital and countries starting to attract best talents.
Where the New Class of Founders Are Moving
Data that we received from Mobility Score Index is really interesting:
Portugal still wins on lifestyle. It’s easygoing, safe, and offers multiple residency paths like the D7, D8 Visa and Golden Visa. Considering recent legislation changes and increasing citizenship timeline, Portugal is still a solid choice.
It’s the place where you can live well, think clearly, and still stay connected.
Singapore is the opposite side of the spectrum - precise, structured, and efficient.
Then there’s Malaysia - the quiet achiever. Overall Malaysia is very under rated country and it is very under radar.
Do you know, that The passport of Malaysia is ranked 3 in the world by the 2025 Passport Index ?
That’s a very strong passport and Malaysia can offer an incredible lifestyle options.
With the DE Rantau Pass and MM2H, it’s becoming the go-to residency for those who want flexibility and affordability without compromising lifestyle. You can base yourself in Kuala Lumpur - and operate globally.
🌍 Global Mobility Is the New Leverage
We used to optimize for money. Then - for time. Now, the smartest people I know optimize for mobility.
Mobility is modern leverage. It’s invisible, unregulated, and unfairly powerful.
The 3 Core Drivers of Global Mobility
When we analyzed open-ended responses, three motivations repeated over and over again — regardless of nationality or income level:
🧭 Freedom from bureaucracy - frustration with slow, outdated systems.
💰 Tax efficiency - not greed, but control. People want to own their capital.
🌴 Quality of life arbitrage - access to better weather, food, and energy at half the cost.
Mobility is not about escaping - it’s about reclaiming personal control.
The “Sovereign Stack” of 2025
In the same way creators have tech stacks, global citizens have sovereign stacks.
Let’s agree on this: freedom isn’t a philosophy - it’s infrastructure.
We are no longer just managing companies; we’re managing jurisdictions, currencies, and digital systems as if they were parts of our own personal operating system:
Residency in low-tax jurisdiction
Company in a global hub
Banking across 2–3 stable currencies
Crypto and stablecoin buffers
Digital health, education, and legal solutions
Your passport used to define your limits. Now, your systems define your leverage.
This is what we call The Sovereign Stack and here are the core layers.
The Sovereign Stack is your new risk management framework:
Residency Layer: Base yourself in a low-tax, high-freedom jurisdiction - Malaysia, UAE, or Indonesia - not because it’s trendy, but because it gives you mobility leverage. Where you live shapes how much of your time and capital you actually keep.
Corporate Layer: Operate your company through a global hub - Singapore, Estonia, or Hong Kong - with the best banking and legal environment for scale. Your entity becomes your passport to the global economy.
Banking Layer: Hold and move money across two or three stable currencies (USD, CHF, SGD). It’s about optionality and anti-fragility - if one system tightens, another opens.
Digital Assets Layer: Crypto and stablecoin buffers offer instant, censorship-resistant liquidity. Bitcoin/Ethereum isn’t ideology anymore - it’s an insurance policy.
Lifestyle Infrastructure: Health, education, and legal services are going digital and borderless. The smartest people no longer “belong” to a system - they subscribe to ones that serve them best, globally.
Why This Matters in 2025 and 2026
AI and automation are erasing borders for income, but not for regulation. If your life and business are still tied to one jurisdiction, one currency, or one passport - you’re playing a 20th-century game in a 21st-century world.
Let’s add these two new layers as well:
AI & Automation Layer – leverage systems to operate globally without adding complexity. AI assistants, automated bookkeeping, CRM workflows - freedom scales through systems.
Community & Trust Layer – your sovereign stack is useless without networks of trust. Access to trusted partners, private circles. Surround yourself with “the same mindset“ people
💬 Closing Thought
Freedom isn’t how far you travel. It’s how you diversify your global presence.
The most successful founders I’ve met don’t optimize for comfort - they optimize for choice. Every system they build - business, legal, or mental - is a mechanism to move fast on demand.
What To Do Next
Audit your own Freedom Score – Identify where you are: Explorer, Starter, Strategist, or Global Citizen.
Design your Sovereign Stack – Build across 5 layers: residency, company, banking, digital assets, and lifestyle infrastructure (add AI and community layers for 2025).
Join the next Freedom Business Summit 2026: Middle East Edition 🇦🇪🇶🇦🇸🇦🇧🇭 – where we’ll go deeper into wealth migration, offshore strategies, and the future of mobility.
Freedom isn’t a dream anymore - it’s a system you can design. And those who build it early, own the decade ahead.
Basically, it’s about building your own.
Freedom now belongs to those who think globally, act strategically, and move fast.
Interesting read. Global freedom sounds like a top goal. 🌏
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