The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 has placed Christopher Harborne in the top tier of Britain’s wealthiest individuals, with an estimated net worth of £18.2 billion. His fortune is largely attributed to a 12% stake in Tether, the stablecoin issuer valued at around $200 billion. Harborne, who resides in Thailand and holds Thai citizenship under the name Chakrit Sakunkrit, is noted as the richest British-born person on this year’s list, surpassing the combined wealth of Yorkshire’s top ten.
Harborne’s inclusion in the rankings comes amid a parliamentary standards investigation into whether Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, failed to properly declare a £5 million gift from the billionaire. The inquiry, opened on May 15, examines if Farage breached the Commons Code of Conduct. Farage maintains the payment was an unconditional personal gift for security purposes and describes it as a reward for his Brexit campaigning. The purchase of a £1.4 million property using these funds had already attracted scrutiny.
Harborne’s financial support for Reform UK totals over £22 million, including a record-breaking £9 million donation in August 2025—the largest single political donation from a living individual in British history. Reform UK was the first major Westminster party to accept cryptocurrency donations. Separately, the Liberal Democrats have called on the Financial Conduct Authority to review Farage’s ties to Stack BTC, a Bitcoin treasury firm, after he appeared in promotional material while holding a 6.31% stake. If the standards commissioner finds a violation, Farage could face sanctions ranging from an apology to suspension or a by-election.