Read our Digital & Print Editions

And support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Nigel Farage's record-beating election war chest is being bankrolled by a donor whose fortune is entangled with a major video platform which has hosted Russian state broadcasters supporting Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine and an influence operation hatched by Russian intelligence.

Christopher Harborne - the Thailand-based billionaire who has given Reform UK £9 million in cash, making him Britain's single largest political donor - is already known as a cryptocurrency investor and long-time Farage backer. He is also a major shareholder in the stablecoin company Tether and the British defence firm QinetiQ, which supplies the Ministry of Defence and allied militaries.

What has not been scrutinised until now is how Harborne's stake in Tether ties his profits to Rumble: a "free speech" video platform that refused to ban Russian state media after the invasion, and has since hosted a Kremlin-backed influence operation exposed by the US Department of Justice.

Byline Times has examined company filings, market disclosures and previous reporting to map the investment chain running from Tether into Rumble. The picture that emerges is of a donor whose financial interests straddle Britain's defence interests and a platform projecting Russian state propaganda.

The £9 Million Man

In early December, Electoral Commission data confirmed that Harborne had donated £9 million to Reform UK - the largest single political donation in recent British history, eclipsing recent gifts to the Conservative and Labour parties.

Harborne is no stranger to Farage's projects. Based on Thailand where he is known under his Thai name Chakrit Sakunkrit, he previously bankrolled the Brexit Party with nearly £10 million and also wrote substantial cheques to the Conservatives under Boris Johnson.

Behind that largesse sits a sprawling portfolio. As well as aviation fuel, technology ventures and property, Harborne holds a substantial stake in Tether - the company behind the world's largest "stablecoin", a type of cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar.

According to multiple reports drawing on leaked corporate documents, he acquired around a 12% share in Tether's parent group in the mid-2010s, making him one of its largest private investors. Harborne is not understood to be in any way involved in Tether's management or operations

Tether has itself been scrutinised by regulators and law enforcement agencies for the way its tokens have been used in money laundering, sanctions evasion and other illicit finance, including schemes said to benefit Russia's war economy - although there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Harborne.

The World Upside Down: How a Top Official at Trump's FBI Laundered Far-Right Disinformation

The United States' entire security apparatus is now being used to spread far-right propaganda rather than tackle genuine threats, reports Caroline Orr Bueno

Caroline Orr Bueno

Let's Get Ready to Rumble

Rumble began life in 2013 as an obscure video-sharing site. For most of the decade it barely registered outside niche online communities. Then came the 2020 US election.

As Donald Trump and senior Republicans railed against "censorship" by Silicon Valley, thousands of MAGA influencers, far-right commentators and pro-Trump media outlets decamped en masse to a platform that promised them something YouTube would not: a home with no gatekeepers.

In 2021, billionaire Peter Thiel and JD Vance's Narya Capital poured money into that promise, hailing Rumble as the backbone of a "parallel tech ecosystem" for the American right.

Then, in February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine - and Rumble made a decision that set it apart from nearly every major platform in the democratic world.

As the EU, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter moved to block RT and Sputnik, Rumble refused. The company announced it would only act if a court forced its hand.

When Franc...