“The UK has been colonized.” That statement by its seventh-richest man and Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe sparked a storm of reaction this week. But Ratcliffe follows an intensifying, international trend of the world’s financial elites, some of whom adopt the value code of the Far Right or actually reinforce it.
European Methods: From Ratcliffe’s ‘Colonization’ to Bollore’s ‘Prophet’
Ratcliffe’s statement, made in the context of his interview with SkyNews, was accompanied by his assessment that the British economy is unable to absorb the costs of both its and benefit policies.
“You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge numbers of inbound migrants” were the exact words of the 73-year-old founder of chemical giant INEOS who claimed Britain’s population would increase in the five-year period 2020-25 by twelve million due to increased immigration flows.
There is not the slightest statistical confirmation of his words, as according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) the population of the United Kingdom is estimated at 70 million from 66.7 million in 2020. The Guardian recalled that in 2020 Ratcliffe transferred a significant part of his fortune (about seven billion pounds) to Monaco and the USA, at the same time that the Accountability Office Budget (OBR) estimates the tax contribution of immigrants for the years 2024-29 at eighteen billion.
Beyond any hypocrisy on the part of the British tycoon, his case is the latest in a string of ultra-rich people embracing the xenophobic narrative of the modern Far Right.
As far as the UK is concerned, Ratcliffe – who has been a staunch supporter of Brexit – was preceded by the Lebanese multi-millionaire Bassim Haidar, who in 2025 left the Conservative Party for the “eyes” of ReformUK.
He justified his decision by saying that Nigel Farage’s party “talks about immigration in a realistic way that responds to the concerns of society”. Many, however, link Haidar’s change of attitude to an increase in a series of tax rates – especially those related to real estate – that directly affect him.
Somewhat different is the case of French media magnate Vincent Bolloret, who has put his extensive media empire at the service of the nationalist right.
Bolloré group media has been identified with the promotion of conspiracy theories such as the “Great Replacement”, the promotion of an agenda friendly to Marine Le Pen and the TV star of the same space, Eric Zemur.
American Crusade – Till’s ‘Antichrist’, Mercer the Denial and Musk
If European billionaires like to indirectly support the xenophobic agenda and the parties that represent it, the case of their American counterparts has different characteristics. Like that of pro-Trump tech investment tycoon Peter Thiel, who doesn’t spare himself… theological quests.
Founder of the group “Permanent Church of God”, he himself, through his articles, sermons and interventions on digital platforms, argues that adverse political, technological and ecological developments (such as the danger from AI) are signs of the impending Apocalypse.
In the context of his recent speech, he even seems to have identified the… Antichrist. “In the 21st century, the Antichrist is a Luddite who wants to end all scientific activity. It’s someone like Greta or Eliezer,” he said, referring to activist Greta Thunberg and artificial intelligence researcher and author Eliezer Yudkowsky.
Till’s steadfast support of the Republican Party – his donations to conservative candidates amount to tens of millions of dollars – was on display during the 2024 presidential election campaign, when he played a key role in JD Vance’s candidacy for the US vice presidency.
Speaking of paradox, the Far Right and the cultural world of Donald Trump, one could not exclude Elon Musk from the equation.
The owner of aerospace technology company SpaceX, Platform X and previously a close associate of Trump, has publicly expressed his support for Germany’s far-right AfD party, saying that “it is the only thing that can save Germany” and that it is time for German society to overcome the guilt of the past. [σ.σ. το Ολοκαύτωμα]».
In September, during a video call to an anti-immigrant rally in London, he told protesters, referring to the issue of violence: “You fight or you die.”
The American world is certainly not lacking in ultra-conservative tycoons who pull the strings in a more behind-the-scenes way. Like billionaire Robert Shillman, who funded the aforementioned London rally and has sided with well-known far-right politicians and activists such as Dutchman Geert Wilders and Americans Ben Shapiro and Charlie Kirk.
Climate denier and Trump supporter Robert Mercer, contributor to the vehemently anti-immigration network Breitbart News and sponsor of several NGOs promoting the ultra-conservative agenda, through his Mercer Family Foundation.
The common denominator of the aforementioned, whatever style they adopt, is the sympathy for the person of the American president and the aversion to supranational institutions such as the European Union.
The coincidence of this agenda with the problems that the EU regulatory framework creates for the giants of the technological economy should not be seen as mere coincidence.
