In the battle for the billionaires, Joe Biden is scooping up support from the Hollywood, tech and fashion industries, while Donald Trump is scoring with old-school business tycoons as the uber-wealthy pick their sides in the 2024 presidential race.
And, as the rich start to invest in their candidates, they are reshaping the race by giving Trump a financial advantage. The former president outraised Biden for the second consecutive month in May after having trailed his Democratic rival.
Overall, Trump was $100 million behind Biden at the start of April. In two months, he cut that cash deficit by at least half. And many of those donors came off the sidelines after Trump’s felony conviction in the Stormy Daniels hush-money trial.
Biden, too, is relying on the massive support that mega-donors can provide. The wealthy fuel their donations through candidate committees as the work around on the limits to individual donations to candidates.
Michael Bloomberg is a prominent supporter of Joe Biden – above Bloomberg accepts the Medal of Freedom in May 2024
Miriam Adelson is a prominent supporter of Donald Trump – above she accepts the Medal of Freedom from Trump in November 2018
May contributions – just released by the Federal Election Commission – highlight how much the rich can give.
For Trump it was a $50 million donation from reclusive businessman Timothy Mellon. Mellon is the heir to a Gilded Age fortune, lives in Wyoming and is rarely seen.
Mellon is so reclusive there are no verified photos of him available. .He’s also donated to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and, between his donations to both candidates, is the first donor to give $100 million in donations this election year.
Meanwhile, Biden received almost $20 million from Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and failed presidential contender.
Biden’s supporters include the famous – Steven Spielberg, George Clooney, Julia Roberts – and infamous – George Soros and Anna Wintour.
Trump’s backers include many from his previous campaigns, including Nelson Peltz, Las Vegas mogul Steve Wynn, the WWE’s Linda McMahon and Miriam Adelson.
Other billionaires have weighed in or are preparing to weigh in:
Miriam Adelson, the casino billionaire and widow of Sheldon Adelson, has pledged to give Trump $90 million – the same that her family gave in the 2020 campaign – although much of the money has yet to arrive.
Nelson Peltz, whose daughter Nicola married Brooklyn Beckham, has come back around to supporting Trump after disavowing the former president in the wake of the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol.
Linda McMahon, the co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), has given Trump $11 million this far. She served as the administrator of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s administration.
The Winklevoss Twins – famous for the battle with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg – gave Trump $1 million in bitcoin.
Other businessmen in Trump’s corner include Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus, ormer chairman and CEO of Marvel Entertainment Isaac Perlmutter, Ameritrade Chairman J. Joe Ricketts, hedgefund billionaire John Paulson, and Blackstone CEO and co-founder Steve Schwarzman.
Linda McMahon, the co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), has given Trump $11 million this far
George Clooney hosted a massive fundraiser for Biden last weekend
Biden, meanwhile, has a slew of bold-faced names backing his re-election bid.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, who has deep ties to Hollywood, serves as co-chair of Biden’s campaign and has given the president nearly a million dollars.
Steven Spielberg also has given about $1 million.
This past weekend George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jimmy Kimmel, and Barbra Streisand joined a Biden fundraiser in L.A.
Billionaire George Soros also has donated heavily to Biden – almost $1 million.
And Biden has courted the tech industry through former Yahoo Chief Marissa Mayer, former Google chief Eric Schmidt, and Netflix chief Reed Hastings.
In the fashion industry, Tori Burch, Michael Kors, and Anna Wintour have all backed the president.
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