The cryptocurrency investor behind a £5 million gift to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has been identified as one of Britain’s wealthiest billionaires, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List. Christopher Harborne, who has broken records for his political donations to Reform, was a new entrant on the 2026 list, coming in at sixth place with an estimated wealth of £18.2 billion.
Harborne’s Wealth and Investments
While living and working in Thailand for more than 20 years, the British billionaire has grown investments and shareholdings in financial companies including Tether, the crypto platform with an estimated valuation of roughly 200 billion US dollars. He also has major investments in London-listed defence technology firm Qinetiq and payments provider IFX, as well as other aerospace businesses. It is understood that Mr Harborne’s wealth could be larger than that estimated by the Rich List as some is held overseas or could not be identified by the researchers.
Political Donations and Scrutiny
Mr Harborne has been thrust into the public eye over a £5 million gift to Mr Farage in 2024. Mr Farage is facing an investigation by the Commons sleaze watchdog, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, for the undeclared gift which he has insisted was not connected to his political activity and was needed to pay for private security for the rest of his life. Mr Harborne has separately donated millions to Reform, including a £9 million donation in August 2025 – the biggest single donation in history to a political party from a living person.
Rising Tech and Finance Fortunes
Elsewhere on the Rich List, entrepreneurs with blooming fortunes include Revolut co-founder Nik Storonsky with a wealth of £16.4 billion, taking him to seventh place and making him the biggest riser of 2026. His personal wealth has ballooned with average gains of £25.8 million a day since last year’s list, driven by a fresh fundraise valuing Revolut at around 75 billion dollars (£55.6 billion). Alex Gerko, the mathematician behind trading platform XTX Markets, is close behind Mr Storonsky on the list with an estimated wealth of £16 billion – with average daily gains of £19.9 million over the past year. Both Moscow-born entrepreneurs have publicly opposed Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, renounced their Russian citizenship and become UK nationals.
Fallers and Exodus of Wealth
On the other hand, one of the biggest fallers on this year’s list include entrepreneur and inventor Sir James Dyson and his family, whose wealth is estimated to have dropped by £8.8 billion to £12 billion, putting them at 13th place. It follows a decline in revenues for the Dyson electricals giant, after being hit by higher tariffs on US imports under President Donald Trump’s policies. Meanwhile, the latest research revealed an ongoing exodus of wealth from the UK following the Government’s non-dom crackdown and inheritance tax changes. One in six people and families who featured on the Rich List two years ago did not appear on the 2026 rankings, with researchers pointing to more home-grown British billionaires relocating to regions like Dubai and Monaco.
Robert Watts, compiler of the Sunday Times Rich List, said: “Many foreign billionaires who have been living in the UK have dropped out because they have moved away. We have also seen a sharp rise in the number of British nationals now resident in Dubai, Switzerland and Monaco. As UK nationals these people remain on our Rich List – wherever they now live. These two exoduses pose challenges for the UK economy and its public finances. Will more of the wealthy now set up or grow their ventures overseas and in doing so create fewer jobs here? How much tax – if any – will Rachel Reeves’ Treasury be able to extract from those affluent Brits who have now left the country.”
