Nigel Farage has earned £685,500 from a gold bullion company since becoming an MP – with £270,000 of that paid for just 12 hours’ work in May, according to the register of MPs’ interests. The Reform UK leader and MP for Clacton acts as a brand ambassador for Direct Bullion, a London-based dealer selling physical precious metals such as gold coins and bars.
Founded in 2016, the company operates from a Mayfair office and markets gold as a hedge against economic uncertainty. Its website warns: “Some people view their wealth like they’re speeding in a car at 100mph without a seatbelt or airbag. … We believe gold is your seatbelt and airbag.”
“Nigel Farage received £270,000 for 12 hours of promoting gold dealer Direct Bullion, taking total earnings from the firm to £685,500.”
The payments dwarf Farage’s other side hustles, which include presenting on GB News and a stint on Cameo where he was duped into voicing a pro-IRA slogan and appeared to endorse a neo-Nazi event. Before entering parliament, he received £5m from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.
Direct Bullion is too small to publish detailed accounts, but Companies House filings show net assets of £2.6m – only about four times what it has paid Farage. The company reported revenue of £17m in 2022, placing 506th in the Financial Times list of Europe’s fastest-growing companies. It does not hold vast gold reserves but sources coins and bars from mints and suppliers, acting as a broker.
Farage’s lucrative arrangement raises questions about the value the company derives from his endorsement, given that its entire net worth is a fraction of his total earnings from the firm.