Billionaire megadonors are turning to former President Donald Trump, helping him catch up with President Joe Biden’s fundraising leadership by donating gigantic sums to his candidacy after many of them subsidized Trump’s major warring parties or disavowed him when he left office.
Harold Hamm: The founder of Continental Resources and longtime friend of Trump, who donated to major donations from former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis among attendees at the now-infamous April dinner at Mar-A-Lago with oil leaders where Trump reportedly laid out industry-friendly policies while soliciting a billion-dollar donation, and in May, Hamm co-hosted a fundraiser in Houston for Trump, Reuters reported. (We estimate that Hamm is worth $18. 5 billion. )
Timothy Mellon: Mellon, a longtime Republican megadonor and top sensible contributor to Trump’s 2020 campaign, is the most prolific donor in the 2024 election cycle, USA Today reported, providing OpenSecrets data showing Mellon donated $25 million to super PACs supporting either one. Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (we estimate the Mellon family is worth $14. 1 billion)
Bernie Marcus: The Home Depot co-founder donated $1 million to Trump’s most sensible super PAC, MAGA Inc. , in the second half of 2023, according to Politico, and co-hosted an Atlanta fundraiser for Trump in April. estimates that Marcus is worth $9. 6 billion)
Kelcy Warren: After donating to DeSantis’ number one bid, marking a change from his 2020 bid for Trump’s reelection, the founder of the pipeline company Energy Transfer donated more than $800,000 to Trump’s crusading apparatus, Trump’s 47th Committee, in the first quarter, According to FEC filings, he and he co-hosted the May fundraiser with Hamm. (We estimate Warren is worth $6 billion. )
Isaac Perlmutter: Former chairman and CEO of Marvel Entertainment and a longtime Trump associate who pleaded with him about veterans policy during his first term, Perlmutter and his wife, Laura, made the largest donation, $10. 1 million, to a new pro-Trump super PAC. Droit pour l’Amérique, in the first quarter. (We estimate that Perlmutter is worth $4. 3 billion. )
J. Joe Ricketts: Chairman of TD Ameritrade, Ricketts gave the maximum amount, $824,600, to the Trump 47 committee. (We estimate Ricketts to be $4 billion. )
John Paulson: The hedge fund billionaire, who would be on Trump’s shortlist for Treasury secretary if he wins a second term, hosted a $50 million fundraiser for Trump at his Palm Beach home in April and co-hosted a fundraiser in Manhattan in May with billionaires. . Woody Johnson and John Catsimatidis. (We estimate Paulson is worth $3. 5 billion. )
Steve Wynn: Wynn, a former casino mogul and chairman of the Republican National Finance Committee who sued the Justice Department last year for allegedly pressuring Trump on behalf of the Chinese government, was listed as a co-host of Paulson’s fundraiser in Palm Beach and donated more. of $800,000, compared to Trump’s $47 in the first quarter of that year. (We estimate Wynn is worth $3. 4 billion. )
Geoffrey Palmer: One of Trump’s biggest backers in 2016, the Los Angeles real estate mogul donated $1 million to MAGA Inc. in the second part of 2023, Politico reported, and more than $80,000 to Trump 47 in the first quarter of 2024. Palmer is estimated to be worth $3. 1 billion)
Linda McMahon: By donating $11 million to Trump this election cycle, making her his second-largest donor after Mellon, McMahon is a co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), along with her husband, Vince McMahon; She served as a trustee for the U. S. Small Business Administration. He is a U. S. citizen under Trump and chairs the America First Policy Institute that promotes Trump’s agenda. (We estimate Vincent McMahon to be worth $2. 9 billion. )
Phil Ruffin: The casino mogul, who co-owned the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas with Trump and is one of Trump’s closest friends, also donated more than $800,000 to Trump 47 in the first 3 months of the year, after helping fund the evento. su 2020 campaign. (We estimate that Ruffin is worth $2. 6 billion. )
Timothy Dunn: Texas oil entrepreneur contributed $5 million to MAGA Inc. in the second part of 2023, according to Politico. (We estimate that Dunn costs $2. 2 billion. )
Several billionaires have indicated their goal of donating money to Trump, but have not yet done so. After calling for a “new generation of leaders” and falling out of the race for No. 1, Blackstone CEO and co-founder Steve Schwarzman (Forbes valuation: $37. 7 billion) said last month he planned to make a donation to Trump, in part due to the “dramatic rise” in anti-Semitism. » Citadel hedge fund founder Ken Griffin (Forbes valuation: $37. 1 billion) said he was waiting to see who Trump would pick as vice president before deciding whether or not to donate. Casino mogul and longtime Trump supporter Miriam Adelson (Forbes valuation: $29. 2 billion) is expected to make a lead donation to pro-Trump American super PAC Preserve, who earned a $90 million donation from her and her late husband, Sheldon Adelson, during the 2020 crusade, according to multiple reports. Pershing Square Capital Management founder Bill Ackman (Forbes rating) : $9. 3 billion), help Trump after having helped the first Kennedy and Haley crusades in the past. Liz Uihlein, co-founder of the shipping and packaging company Uline with her husband Dick Uihlein, told the Financial Times in March that she would help Trump, after donating to DeSantis’ No. 1 crusade. : 6. 7 billion dollars each). After apologizing for helping Trump in the 2020 crusade after January 6, billionaire investor Nelson Peltz (Forbes valuation: $1. 6 billion) indicated he would reluctantly help him in 2024, raising immigration and age considerations of Biden, in a report to the Financial Times in March. “It will probably be Trump, and that doesn’t satisfy me. “
We estimate that Trump has $6. 1 billion.
141 million dollars. That’s the amount the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee reported raising in May, 37% of which came from online contributions within 24 hours of his felony conviction in Manhattan last month.
Biden had an early lead over Trump in fundraising, ending March with $192 million in hands, a sum that his crusade claimed was the largest war chest ever amassed through a Democratic candidate at this point in the election cycle. Biden also has the support of several billionaires, adding billionaire Renaissance Technologies co-founder James Simons and his wife Marilyn, who donated $6 million to the pro-Biden Future Forward PAC in the first quarter. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman also donated $6 million, and former Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg donated $1 million. Biden’s fundraising slowed in April to $51 million, after his crusade and affiliated committees raised more than $90 million in March. Trump and the RNC said they raised $76 million in April.
Elon Musk, owner and billionaire of Tesla (the world’s richest user with a valuation of $210. 4 billion), is also helping to energize Trump’s crusade through his support within Silicon Valley’s notoriously liberal tech community. candidate this year, is actively running to keep Biden out of the way. He met with Trump in March at Peltz’s home in Palm Beach, the Washington Post reported, and has held meetings with business leaders to discuss tactics to oppose Biden. According to the Wall Street Journal, Musk defended Trump following his guilty verdict, tweeting that “great damage has been done to the public’s trust in the American legal system today. “
Since winning the nomination in March, Trump has stepped up his fundraising, attending high-dollar events and closed-door meetings with business executives, where he reportedly pitched pro-government policies. industry while suggesting that they deserve to donate huge sums to his campaign. At an April dinner at Mar-A-Lago with oil industry executives, Trump suggested they donate $1 billion to help his candidacy, then detailed how he would repeal Biden’s environmental regulations, approve more offshore oil drilling and would lift Biden’s moratorium on permits. . for new exports of liquefied natural gas, the Washington Post reported. At Hamm’s fundraiser in Texas in May, Trump told oil executives, “I’m begging for his money,” according to the Washington Post. On Thursday, he met with about 80 wealthy CEOs, including Apple’s Tim Cook and JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon, at the annual meeting of the tough Business Roundtable organization in Washington, where he floated proposals to cut the 21 corporate tax rate. %. at 20%, Bloomberg reported that one of his first priorities if he wins a second term would be to “unlock American energy,” Trump economic adviser Stephen Moore told Reuters.
It’s Donors Backing Trump, While He Follows Biden’s Fundraiser (Forbes)
Trump-aligned billionaires, adding Elon Musk and Bill Ackman, to him after his guilty verdict (Forbes)
Billionaire Ken Griffin praises Trump despite his main rivals, but probably wouldn’t do so until he chooses a vice president (Forbes)
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