Nigel Farage has held talks with Elon Musk in Florida amid claims the world’s richest man is poised to donate $100million to Reform UK.
The pair spoke for an hour yesterday at US President-elect Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago resort.
They were joined by British property tycoon Nick Candy, a former Tory donor, who was last week unveiled as Reform’s treasurer.
The meeting will fuel rumours that Mr Musk, the Tesla boss and owner of X, is ready to plough some of his estimated $300billion fortune into the British political party.
The South African-born businessman has been a fierce critic of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in recent months.
He has also taken a keen interest in the rise of Reform, having become friendly with Mr Farage through their shared links to Mr Trump.
Mr Farage revealed that ‘money was discussed’ in his meeting with Mr Musk, telling The Times: ‘We are in negotiations about whether he can help. He is fully behind this.
‘He is motivated enough by what’s going on in Britain to give serious thought to giving money.’
But Mr Farage added the ‘primary goal’ of the meeting was to discuss Mr Musk’s role in Mr Trump’s successful bid to be re-elected to the White House.
‘Our primary goal was to discuss what he did in the ground campaign,’ the Reform leader said.
‘There is no doubt his influence made a huge difference. I learnt a lot about voter registration.’
Nigel Farage, Elon Musk (centre) and Nick Candy (left) pose in front of a portrait of Donald Trump at the US President-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida
The meeting will fuel rumours that Mr Musk, the Tesla boss and owner of X, is ready to plough some of his estimated $300billion fortune into Reform UK
Mr Farage has previously insisted he knows nothing about a potential contribution from Mr Musk, but said that if money were offered ‘we will take it’
Mr Musk responded to Mr Farage’s post about their meeting on his X social media site
Earlier, speaking about their talks with Mr Musk in Florida, Mr Farage and Mr Candy said: ‘We had a great meeting with Elon Musk for an hour yesterday.
‘We learned a great deal about the Trump ground game and will have ongoing discussions on other areas.
‘We only have one more chance left to save the West and we can do great things together.
‘Our thanks also to President Trump for allowing us to use Mar-a-Lago for this historic meeting. The special relationship is alive and well.’
After Mr Farage shared a photo of himself, Mr Musk and Mr Candy posing underneath a portrait of Mr Trump – together with the caption ‘Britain Needs Reform’ – Mr Musk replied on his X social media site: ‘Absolutely.’
Mr Candy has committed to giving £1million of his own money to Reform – but is also launching a push to raise tens of millions more from other wealthy business figures.
Ahead of his and Mr Farage’s meeting with Mr Musk, he said he believed the billionaire ‘would like to help’.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Mr Candy – whose former pop star wife Holly Valance is also a fan of Mr Farage – claimed that Reform’s membership would soon exceed that of the Tories, which stands at around 130,000.
‘The oldest political party in this country… will be overtaken in members by the newest political party in this country – and that is mindblowing,’ he said.
Insiders in other parties admit a rumoured $100million (£79million) donation to Reform by Mr Musk could ‘shift the dial’ and add fuel to Reform’s rise in the polls.
But there have also been complaints about influence on British politics from abroad.
Mr Farage has previously insisted he knows nothing about a potential contribution from Mr Musk, but said that if money were offered ‘we will take it’.
Mr Musk became a key member of Mr Trump’s campaign team and has been appointed by the President-elect to lead a new US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
Mr Musk became friendly with Mr Farage through their shared links to President-elect Trump
Mr Candy and his former pop-star wife Holly Valance were photographed at Reform’s conference in Birmingham in September
Mr Candy gave a broad hint in the newspaper interview that he was wooing Mr Musk, who became a key member of Mr Trump’s campaign team and has been appointed by the president-elect to jointly lead a new US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
‘Elon’s managed to do an incredible job for President-elect Trump, and he’s sort of changed the political spectrum in America,’ Mr Candy said.
‘He knows how to get things done. I want to understand how he got those people out in Pennsylvania. I want to learn from him.’
Pressed on whether he would ask Musk directly for advice, Mr Candy said: ‘You might be seeing something soon on that.’
Sir Keir and Mr Musk clashed earlier this year over the widespread rioting in the UK.
The businessman sparked a furious backlash by claiming that ‘civil war is inevitable’ amid the violent chaos in British cities and towns.
He also branded the PM ‘Two Tier Keir’ as he fuelled claims that UK police treat some groups more harshly than others.
But Mr Musk was left red-faced after being forced to retract false claims about Sir Keir setting up detainment camps in the Falkland Islands for rioters.
