2023-05-01 14:03:02
Crypto investor and BBC chairman Richard Sharp has resigned from his role at the British media company following an investigation into possible conflicts of interest over his role in securing Boris Johnson’s £800,000 personal loan.
Sharp’s appointment to the post of BBC chairman has already been questioned due to his ties to Russian crypto companies. These companies belonged to the sanctioned Russian oligarch Vladimir Potanin.
Known as the “Nickel King,” Potanin owns Atomyze, a blockchain company that also operates a platform for trading metals as crypto tokens. Potanin also bought back Rosbank last year, which ceremoniously swapped its own central bank’s digital currency, the ruble, for Atomyze’s digital gold.
In 2019, Sharp was an investor in Atomyze through ABCP GP Ltd., a company listed in the Cayman Islands. The former president of the BBC was also the company manager of Atomyze for two months. Swiss company reports reveal that Rob Osborne, COO and CFO of Sharp’s personal investment office, still sits on the Russian crypto firm’s board.
The investigation found that Richard Sharp had breached the code
The investigation began following Sharp was reported to have helped Johnson arrange an £800,000 loan deal with Sharp’s distant cousin Sam Blyth back in 2020. The former prime minister soon nominated Sharp for the post of BBC president, despite representatives describing Sharp as having “no editorial experience”.
Friday’s investigation found that “Mr Richard Sharp failed to disclose the potential perceived conflict of interest to the panel which interviewed the candidates and advised ministers on the appointment”.
A examination according to “these matters have given rise to a potential perceived conflict of interest… There may have been a risk that the impression might have been created that Mr Sharp would not be independent of the former Prime Minister if appointed’.
Sharp will remain BBC chairman until June, when his successor will be appointed.
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