Nigel Farage has dismissed talk of a $100m (£78m) donation to his party by Elon Musk, claiming reports are "pure speculation".
The rumours were reported by the Sunday Times, which believed Conservative Party officials were concerned that the US billionaire was preparing to give the Reform UK a large payment with a view to transform UK politics.
A donation that big is thought to be used to wipe the Tory party out at the next election and could open the door to anti-government advertisement from Reform.
However, Mr Farage told the BBC the idea was "complete news to me" and "I’ve heard nothing of the kind".
Mr Musk has previously criticised the prime minister and his Labour party whilst backing Reform UK in posts on his social media platform X.
The Sunday Times suggested that he could make a donation through the British branch of X, despite being a US citizen.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s PM programme, Farage said "even a fraction of that money would make a massive difference to our operation as a party, [but] it’s purely theoretical".
He added that although he does know Mr Musk and "politically he is a supporter of mine, there’s no secret to that, I’ve never solicited a donation from him and one has never been offered".