As the United States, US, presidential election draws close, the financial backing of billionaires has become a defining factor in the campaigns of leading candidates.
Donald Trump, the Republican party candidate and Kamala Harris, who took the baton from President Biden for the Democratic party, continue to rally the support of some of America’s wealthiest, drawing powerful endorsements from influential figures in the country seeking to shape its future.
Elections are run with money, and political parties and their candidates require a lot of it to run successful campaigns.
This process is supported by the high and mighty who donate good money towards the government they wish to see in power.
These funds cover a range of expenses, including advertising, staffing, travel, and organising events.
From business partners to friends, acquaintances and wealthy individuals who want to see the tide turn in their favour, here are 20 billionaires supporting Trump and Kamala as the next US President.
some $16 million to his campaigns and PACs from 2016 to 2022. This year, he’s up to $3 million. The developer is worth $3.1 billion.
9. J.Joe.Ricketts
Ricketts, whose family owns the Chicago Cubs, poured $3 million into a Republican anti-Trump group back in 2016 with his wife. They have given a combined $2 million to Trump groups so far this time around, betting against Kamala.
10. Jimmy John Liautaud
Since Jimmy John sold the majority of his business to a private equity firm, he has gotten more involved in politics, as has his wife Leslie. She backed Trump in 2016 and 2020 and John joined her this year, giving $2.8 million to Trump groups so far.
Billionaires supporting Kamala Harris
Mark Cuban
The billionaire Shark Tank star and former principal owner of the Dallas Mavericks is one of the Democrats’ most valuable supporters. Valued at US$5.4 billion according to Forbes, Cuban, who is known to have attended a Joe Biden fundraiser, has retweeted various posts about Harris’ campaign, and signed the “VCs for Kamala” pledge.
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Reid Hoffman
LinkedIn co-founder, Reid Hoffman has been a long-time Democratic donor and wasted no time backing Harris after Biden dropped. In January, he poured $2 million into a super political action committee (PAC) for Biden’s campaign.
The former CEO, worth $2.5 billion plans to open a fundraiser for Harris and has been reported to push Netflix chairman Reed Hastings to donate US$7 million to a PAC supporting the current Vice President.
3. Vinod Khosla
Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, and OpenAI investor has backed Harris to win the elections in November following the withdrawal of President Biden, who he hosted a fundraiser for in May. Worth $7.2 billion per Forbes, the entrepreneur has donated to Super PACs in support of Harris.
4. Chris Sacca
Chris Sacca made early bets investing in Twitter and Uber through his venture capital firm Lowercase Capital. Now he’s making bets of Kamala Harris to be the next US president after donating to Biden’s campaign before he dropped out.
Sacca noted that he and his partner Clay Dumas have “invested millions of dollars and countless hours helping build organisations and companies that we think have the best shot at giving blue candidates an edge in a game that is rigged against them.”
5. Eric Schmidt
Worth $22.5 billion per Forbes, the former CEO of Alphabet has given $1.6 million to Future Forward PAC, a Democratic super PAC, and $1.16 million to the Biden Victory Fund.
6. Dustin Moskovitz
Moskovitz, who helped to launch Facebook (now Meta Platforms) in 2004, gave up to $929,600 to the Biden Victory Fund before he dropped out of the race. Now, he has directed his attention to Kamala who goes against the same opponent, Trump.
7. Melinda Gates
Melinda Gates, the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation joins the list of billionaires to support Kamala Harris for President, with a $3,300 donation to the Haris Victory Fund, per Bloomberg, which values the founder at $13.5 billion.
8. Christy Walton
The daughter-in-law of Walmart founder, Sam Walton co-hosted a fundraiser for Harris in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on September 15. She is known as one of the biggest backers of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump super-PAC that ran ads in battleground states during the 2020 campaign.
9. Elizabeth Johnson
Worth $11.9 billion per Bloomberg, Elizabeth Johnson, the former chairman of Fidelity Investments, donated $50,000 to the Biden Action Fund, $6,600 to Biden for President and $100,000 to the Biden Victory Fund.
10. Jon Gray
Jon Gray is the president and CEO of Blackstone. When Biden was on the Ticket, Gray gave $50,000 to the Biden Action Fund and donated $413,000 to the Harris Action Fund when she became the democratic ticket holder, as per Bloomberg.
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