Revealed: how Boris Johnson traded PM contacts for global business deals

* Johnson [lobbied a senior Saudi official he had met while in office](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/08/boris-johnson-sought-business-with-saudi-officials-better-earth), asking him to share a pitch with the petrostate’s autocratic crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, for a firm he co-chairs.
* The ex-PM [received more than £200,000 from a hedge fund after meeting Venezuela’s president](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/08/boris-johnson-nicolas-maduro-meeting-invoice) Nicolás Maduro – contrary to statements he was not paid.
* While in office, [Johnson appears to have held a secret meeting with Peter Thiel](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/08/boris-johnson-dominic-cummings-secret-meeting-palantir-peter-thiel), the billionaire who founded the controversial US data firm Palantir, months before it was given a role managing NHS data.
* In an apparent breach of Covid pandemic rules, [Johnson hosted a dinner for a Tory peer who financed a lavish refurbishment of his Downing Street flat](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/08/boris-johnson-had-dinner-in-lockdown-with-peer-funding-flat-refit-files-suggest), a day after the second national Covid-19 lockdown came into force.

!ping UK