Reform donor and crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne claims sixth in UK Rich List as super-rich grow wealthier
The combined fortunes of Britain’s 350 wealthiest individuals and families rose by 1.4% over the past year to £784bn, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List. The modest uptick, compiled by Robert Watts, masks a deeper turbulence beneath the surface: the number of billionaires edged up by just one to 157, still well below the peak of 177 recorded in 2022, and the entry threshold for the list fell by £10m to £340m — a figure Watts described as “another indicator of the sluggish economic environment”.
While the headline wealth figure may fuel calls for higher taxes on the super-rich, the Rich List’s compiler said the data tells a story of two exoduses. “One in six of the individuals and families who appeared on the list two years ago don’t feature this time,” Watts said. “Many foreign billionaires who have been living in the UK have also 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.” He warned that these departures pose questions for the Treasury, asking whether more wealthy individuals will now build their businesses overseas, and how much tax Chancellor Rachel Reeves will be able to collect from those who have left.
Not every billionaire saw their fortune rise. Sir James Dyson’s estimated wealth was slashed by £8.8bn to £12bn, dropping him from fourth to 13th place, as lower revenues at his electricals empire were partly blamed on Donald Trump’s tariffs. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, owner of chemicals giant Ineos and a stake in Manchester United, fell from seventh to ninth after his wealth was cut by £1.85bn to nearly £15.2bn, with the business hit by prolonged demand weakness and cheap imports.
Harborne: the wealthiest British-born entrepreneur
A new name has entered the top ten: Christopher Harborne, ranked sixth with an estimated £18.177bn. The Sunday Times Rich List places the Thailand-based investor as the wealthiest British-born entrepreneur. His fortune is built on a diverse portfolio, but the lion’s share comes from cryptocurrency. According to the Rich List, much of his wealth is tied to a 12% stake in Tether, the firm behind the world’s largest stablecoin, USDT. Tether has been valued at $200bn based on private sales of shares, giving Harborne a stake worth an estimated £17.7bn.
Watts noted that Harborne, 63, has lived in Thailand for nearly 30 years and holds Thai citizenship under the name Chakrit Sakunkrit while retaining his British nationality. Many of his companies are based in jurisdictions where reporting obligations are less onerous than in the UK, which Watts said “has long posed significant challenges for anyone trying to assess his personal fortune.”
His easiest-to-identify UK asset is a 14.2% stake in QinetiQ, the Hampshire-based defence contractor listed on the FTSE 250, worth £357mn when the list was compiled on 24 April 2026. He is the company’s largest shareholder. Harborne also owns IFX Payments, a money transfer business in the City of London, and Eclipse Aerospace, a private jet maker based in Albuquerque. Beyond those holdings, the research briefing adds that he founded AML Global, a jet fuel brokerage, and Sherriff Global Group, which trades private aircraft. Early investments in Ethereum are also understood to form a major part of his net worth.
Watts’s analysis suggests the £18bn figure may even be an understatement. Harborne himself hit the headlines last month after the Guardian reported he had given Nigel Farage £5m in 2024, a gift now being investigated by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner to determine whether Farage breached disclosure rules. Farage has claimed the money was for personal security costs, not a political donation. Separately, Farage has asserted that Tether could be worth $500bn, which would imply Harborne’s stake could be worth £44bn.
Harborne’s political donations extend well beyond that single gift. He has been a major donor to Reform UK (formerly the Brexit Party), contributing over £22m in total, including a record £9m in August 2025 — making him the largest single donor to a UK political party. He previously gave £1m to Boris Johnson’s private company, as well as donations to the Conservative Party.
His business dealings have not been without legal scrutiny. The research briefing notes that Harborne initiated a defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over an article he alleged falsely linked him and his companies to illicit activities related to Tether and Bitfinex. The case advanced past a motion to dismiss, with Harborne denying any operational involvement beyond his shareholding.
Educated at Westminster School and Cambridge University — where he studied engineering — Harborne also holds an MBA from INSEAD. The Rich List’s top spot remains with the Hinduja family, now listed as “Sanjay and Dheeraj Hinduja and family”, worth £38bn following the death of patriarch Gopichand Hinduja last November. The full top ten also includes the Reuben family (£27.971bn), Sir Leonard Blavatnik (£26.852bn), Idan Ofer (£24.481bn), the Weston family (£18.939bn), Nik Storonsky (£16.411bn), Alex Gerko (£16.006bn), Sir Jim Ratcliffe (£15.194bn), and Igor and Dmitry Bukhman (£14.26bn).
