Christopher Harborne, a key investor in stablecoin issuer Tether and financial backer of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, has been named one of the UK's richest people, landing sixth place on the Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated fortune of $24.4 billion.
Most of Harborne's wealth stems from his 12% stake in Tether, the company behind the USDT stablecoin, valued at around $200 billion. Tether recently posted $1.04 billion in first-quarter profit.
Harborne's lawyers say he holds stakes in Tether and its sister company Bitfinex but has no operational role. He is now the richest person in Northern England and Yorkshire, and is listed as the wealthiest British-born person on the 2026 list, despite living in Thailand and holding Thai citizenship.
The ranking comes as Farage faces a parliamentary standards probe over a reported $6.7 million gift from Harborne, made just before the 2024 general election. Farage initially called it an unconditional, personal gift for security, then described it as a "reward for campaigning for Brexit." Reports surfaced that Farage bought a $1.9 million property in cash soon after receiving the money.
The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is investigating whether Farage failed to register the interest. No finding has been published yet.