Tether Billionaire Enters UK's Richest People List Amid Farage Gift Inquiry

In brief

• Billionaire Tether investor Christopher Harborne has entered the Sunday Times Rich List in sixth place, with most of his wealth tied to his Tether stake.
• Harborne’s $6.7 million gift to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage in 2024 has come under scrutiny.
• Farage faces a standards probe over the gift, which he claimed was a “reward” for Brexit campaigning.

Christopher Harborne, a major investor in stablecoin issuer Tether and financial backer of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, was named one of the UK's richest people as Farage faces a parliamentary standards inquiry over a reported $6.7 million (£5 million) gift from the crypto billionaire.

The Sunday Times released its annual Rich List on Friday, ranking Harborne sixth in the UK with an estimated fortune of about $24.4 billion (£18.2 billion).

Most of Harborne’s wealth reportedly comes from a 12% stake in Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, which has been valued at about $200 billion. Tether reported $1.04 billion in first-quarter profit this year, with a reserve buffer of $8.23 billion and nearly $192 billion in reserve assets.

Harborne’s lawyers have said he holds stakes at Tether and its sister company Bitfinex, but has no operational role in either.

The ranking makes Harborne the richest person in the North of England and Yorkshire, with a fortune larger than the rest of Yorkshire’s top 10 combined, per the Sunday Times. He was also listed as the wealthiest British-born person on the 2026 list, though he has lived in Thailand for over two decades and holds Thai citizenship under the name Chakrit Sakunkrit.

A ‘reward’ for Brexit?

Harborne has emerged as a major financial backer of Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader and member of Parliament for Clacton.

He has donated about $16.1 million to Reform UK, including a roughly $12.1 million contribution late last year that was described as the largest single political donation from a living individual in British history.

On Thursday, the UK’s Parliamentary Standards Commissioner an investigation into whether Farage should have declared Harborne's reported $6.7 million gift, which was made before the Reform UK leader stood in the 2024 general election.