Mystery British businessman bets $5m on Trump in ‘largest political wager ever’
The former banker stands to win almost $15m if the US president wins a second term

A British gambler is hoping to prove US election pundits wrong after placing a $5m (£3.9m) bet at odds of 37/20 on Donald Trump winning the presidential race.
As US voters go the polls today, The Sun reports that the unnamed “fluttering financier” placed his big-bucks wager with a private bookmaker on the Caribbean island of Curacao after speaking to “Trump camp insiders”. A betting industry source told the newspaper that “word of this bet has done the rounds and we think it’s the biggest ever made on politics”.
Speculation is growing about the identity of the mystery businessman, who is reported to be a “rich former banker who is based offshore”. Whoever he is, the high-stakes gambler “could walk away with almost $15m” (£11.6m) if his “hunch is successful”, says the Daily Mail.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Another mystery punter is hoping that won’t be the case, after betting £1m on Joe Biden to win the election, according to British bookmaker Betfair Exchange. If the Democratic challenger secures the keys to the White House, the UK-based gambler will take home £1.4m.
Biden remains favourite to win the election, but bookmakers say there has been a late flurry of bets on Trump.
Ladbrokes reports that over the past week, three in four of all bets were for the Republican to secure a second term. A spokesperson for the betting giant said that although “Biden looks home and hosed, even at the eleventh hour punters are continuing to back Trump at the odds on offer”.
That pattern is being repeated over at Paddy Power, with 93% of the money bet on the election over the last day backing a Trump victory.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Calls for both calm and consequences follow Kirk killing
TALKING POINTS The suspected assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk has some public figures pleading for restraint, while others agitate for violent reprisals
-
Why does Donald Trump keep showing up at major sporting events?
Today's Big Question Trump has appeared at the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500 and other events
-
‘Democracy is under threat globally’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Former top FBI agents sue, claiming Trump purge
Speed Read The agents alleged they were targeted by a “campaign of retribution”
-
Why does Trump keep interfering in the NYC mayoral race?
Today's Big Question The president has seemingly taken an outsized interest in his hometown elections, but are his efforts to block Zohran Mamdani about political expediency or something deeper?
-
Judge lets Cook stay at Fed while appealing ouster
Speed Read Trump had attempted to fire Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump