Farage’s Major Donor Linked to Platform Hosting Russian State Media

Nigel Farage’s record-breaking £9 million election war chest is being bankrolled by a billionaire whose fortune is entangled with a video platform that hosts Russian state broadcasters supporting Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine invasion.

Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based investor who has become Britain’s single largest political donor, holds a significant stake in cryptocurrency company Tether, which has direct financial ties to Rumble, a “free speech” video platform that has refused to ban Russian state media following the 2022 Ukraine invasion.

An investigation into corporate filings and market disclosures reveals a complex investment chain connecting Harborne’s wealth to a platform that continues to amplify Kremlin narratives while most Western media companies have blocked Russian state outlets.

Harborne’s financial interests straddle two seemingly contradictory worlds: British defense through his stake in QinetiQ, which supplies technology to the Ministry of Defence and allied militaries supporting Ukraine, and a platform that hosts content promoting Russia’s war efforts.

The £9 Million Donor

In December, Electoral Commission data confirmed Harborne had donated £9 million to Reform UK – exceeding recent large donations to both Conservative and Labour parties. Using his Thai name, Chakrit Sakunkrit, Harborne previously funneled nearly £10 million to Farage’s Brexit Party and made substantial donations to the Conservatives under Boris Johnson.

Harborne’s portfolio extends across aviation fuel, technology, and property investments, but his approximately 12% stake in Tether’s parent company stands out. Acquired in the mid-2010s, this investment has grown substantially as Tether has become the world’s largest “stablecoin” – a cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar.

While Harborne is not involved in Tether’s management or operations, the company itself has faced scrutiny from regulators and law enforcement agencies regarding how its tokens have been used in money laundering, sanctions evasion, and other illicit finance, including schemes allegedly benefiting Russia’s war economy. No wrongdoing by Harborne has been suggested in these matters.

Rumble’s Rise as Alternative Media Platform

Rumble began in 2013 as an obscure video-sharing platform but gained significant traction following the 2020 US presidential election. As Donald Trump and Republican figures complained about “censorship” by mainstream tech companies, MAGA influencers, far-right commentators, and pro-Trump media outlets migrated to Rumble’s more permissive environment.

In 2021, billionaire Peter Thiel and JD Vance’s Narya Capital invested heavily in Rumble, positioning it as the foundation of a “parallel tech ecosystem” for conservative voices. By September of that year, Rumble had become the official cloud infrastructure and video distribution service for Trump’s Truth Social platform.

The platform’s defining moment came in February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. While the EU, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter blocked Russian state outlets RT and Sputnik, Rumble refused, stating it would only comply if legally forced. When France’s media regulator ordered Rumble to adhere to EU sanctions, the platform chose to block access to its entire service in France rather than remove Kremlin broadcasters.

Russian Propaganda and Tether’s Investment

In September 2024, the US Department of Justice exposed Tenet Media as a covert Kremlin influence operation run by RT employees with $10 million in funding. American prosecutors alleged that Russian state staff secretly directed Western commentators to push “hidden Russian government” narratives into public debate.

Independent researchers identified Rumble as one of Tenet’s primary distribution channels, hosting hundreds of videos repeating Moscow’s talking points. According to Media Matters For America, Rumble had actively promoted Tenet Media content, featuring videos from the company’s channel in its “editor picks” section. A 2025 University of Michigan study confirmed more than 560 Tenet podcasts were available on the platform.

Just three months after the DOJ indictment, in December 2024, Tether disclosed a $775 million “strategic investment” in Rumble, purchasing over 103 million shares and becoming one of the platform’s top shareholders.

This investment directly impacts Harborne’s financial interests. With his estimated 12% stake in Tether’s parent company, Harborne’s wealth is now structurally linked to a crypto-information ecosystem that keeps Russian state media online and has been used to amplify Kremlin propaganda.

The Conflict of Interest

Simultaneously, Harborne is the largest private shareholder in QinetiQ, which provides advanced technology, testing, and training services to the UK Ministry of Defence, NATO, and allied militaries. QinetiQ’s US division has supplied bomb-disposal robots to Ukraine as part of American aid packages, and in 2025, the MoD signed a proof-of-concept program with QinetiQ to help Ukrainian forces 3D-print battlefield components.

These investments sit alongside a recently extended £1.5 billion Long Term Partnering Agreement for test and evaluation work with the UK government, and an £80 million mission-data and electronic-warfare contract.

The situation presents a stark contradiction: Harborne benefits financially both as a major MoD contractor supporting Ukraine’s defense and from an investment structure that sustains a platform hosting Kremlin influence operations.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson stated: “National security is our number one priority, and every contract is rigorously assessed to safeguard the UK’s strategic interests.”

Political Fallout

Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have called for the Electoral Commission to investigate Reform UK, highlighting that Harborne’s £9 million donation was shortly followed by Nigel Farage publicly praising Tether. Labour has raised “serious questions” about this sequence, while the Liberal Democrats warn of potential conflicts of interest if Farage is promoting the commercial interests of his largest donor.

Labour MP Phil Brickell, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption and Responsible Tax, told Byline Times that the government should legislate to address cryptocurrency donations in UK politics.

“There is a bigger question here about how our politics is funded. I don’t want to see us turn into the US where money talks more than anything else,” Brickell said.

This deep structural conflict – linking Harborne’s wealth to a platform that hosts Kremlin-directed propaganda while simultaneously profiting from defense contracts – remains largely unknown to voters as Reform UK seeks their support in the upcoming election.