Boris Johnson was paid £240,000 by a hedge fund manager weeks after meeting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in February 2023, according to leaked documents. The payment, made via an invoice from Johnson's office, raises questions about the former prime minister's claims that he was not paid for the meeting and was acting as a diplomatic backchannel.
The Guardian obtained the documents from the Boris Files, a leak of data from Johnson's private office. The files include a contract signed in September 2023 with Merlyn Advisors, a hedge fund run by Maarten Petermann, who also attended the Caracas meeting. The contract stipulated a fee of £200,000 per meeting, with potential earnings of up to £1.6m a year for eight meetings, plus a monthly £35,000 retainer for a thinktank Johnson planned to establish.
An invoice for £240,000—comprising £200,000 plus an additional £40,000—was sent by Johnson's office to Petermann on 15 March 2024 and paid on 7 May. Johnson had previously told UK officials that he had no contractual relationship with Merlyn Advisors and that he was not paid for any meetings in Venezuela. After the Guardian contacted him, Johnson issued a statement calling the story “rubbish” and denying misuse of the public duty costs allowance.
The payment raises doubts about Johnson's explanation that he was acting as a diplomatic backchannel for the UK to open dialogue with Maduro, whom Johnson once described as a “dictator of an evil regime”. Former foreign secretary David Cameron—who was not told about Petermann's involvement—might have warned Johnson about the risks of leveraging his post-premiership status for financial gain.
