Paris | A mystery French trader known as the “Trump whale” is set to reap almost $US85 million ($127 million) in profit after betting millions on the Republican candidate winning the US election – by deliberately shunning mainstream polls.

“Théo”, as the trader called himself, said he reaped the winnings by ignoring the polls and instead turned to so-called “neighbour” surveys that asked people who they thought their neighbours would vote for, rather than themselves. Théo said some of these he commissioned himself, according to US media reports.

Bloomberg and The Telegraph London