Billionaires Invest Staggering Sums Into Electing Trump

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Some of the world's wealthiest figures -- led by conservative donor Miriam Adelson and tech billionaire Elon Musk -- have funneled tens of millions of dollars into political groups in recent months to boost Donald Trump's White House bid, new reports filed Tuesday with federal regulators show.

Posted by Corky at 11:30 PM | 8 COMMENTS | permalink

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"Altogether, just three billionaires " Musk, Adelson and Midwestern packaging magnate Richard Uihlein " donated roughly $220 million in a three-month period to groups backing the Republican's candidacy.

Their staggering donations underscore the crucial role that a handful of billionaire megadonors are playing in Trump's efforts to edge past his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, as their race has intensified.,"

Billionaires for The Working Man!

Trumpers are such morons.

#1 | Posted by Corky at 2024-10-16 10:15 AM

They're avaricious, odious goons but give them their due: they know, invest and vote their own best personal interest.

Yes, of course they're smarter than the rubes they're manipulating.

That's why they hold them in such low regard.

#2 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2024-10-16 11:09 AM

Living proof on why Citizens United was such a bad decision...
3 men can almost 'buy' a U.S. election.

#3 | Posted by earthmuse at 2024-10-17 06:29 AM

No, money is not speech, it is a way to bribe politicians, and judges and rig the electoral system. If money were speech, then in a criminal trial the defense could give the jurors millions of dollars.
It is a few very rich people saying, in effect, "screw the great majority of Americans, we own it all and we want to make sure this is a rich man's dictatorship run by our minions".

#4 | Posted by Hughmass at 2024-10-17 06:33 AM

Which Billionaires Are Supporting Harris?
A total of 79 billionaires (or more) are backing Harris. Forbes identified these 28 billionaires who donated $1 million toward groups supporting Harris through August:

Arthur Blank (Atlanta Falcons)
Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg, former New York mayor)
Neil Bluhm (Real estate)
John Doerr (Kleiner Perkins)
Amy Goldman Fowler (New York real estate)
Avram Glazer (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn)
Robert Hale, Jr. (Granite Telecommunications)
Amos Hostetter, Jr. (Cable)
Bruce Karsh (Oaktree Capital Management)
Vinod Khosla (Khosla Ventures)
Seth Klarman (Baupost)
Henry Laufer (Renaissance Technologies)
Stephen Mandel, Jr. (Lone Pine Capital)
George Marcus (Marcus & Millichap)
Michael Moritz (Sequoia Capital)
Dustin Moskovitz (Facebook)
John Pritzker (Hyatt hotels)
Haim Saban (Fox Family Channel)
Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook)
Eric Schmidt (Google)
Lynn Schusterman (Samson Resources)
David Shaw (D.E. Shaw)
The late Jim Simons (Renaissance Technologies)
Gwendolyn Sontheim Meyer (Cargill)
Steven Spielberg (Hollywood director)
Thomas Steyer (Farallon Capital)
Pat Stryker (Stryker Corp.)
The following 36 billionaires made between $50,000 and $999,999 in donations to groups supporting Harris through August, according to Forbes' analysis of FEC data:

David Blitzer (Blackstone)
David Bonderman (TPG)
Edythe Broad (Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation)
Tory Burch (Tory Burch)
Rick Caruso (Los Angeles real estate)
James Chambers (Cox Enterprises)
Robert Clark (Clayco)
Barry Diller (IAC)
Dagmar Dolby (Dolby Laboratories)
Charles Ergen (DISH)
John Fish (Suffolk Construction)
Gordon Getty (Getty Oil)
James Goodnight (SAS)
Jonathan Gray (Blackstone)
Thomas Hagen (Erie Indemnity)
Reed Hastings (Netflix)
Elizabeth Johnson (Fidelity Investments)
Michael Krasny (Computer Discount Warehouse)
Chris Larsen (Ripple)
Marc Lasry (Avenue Capital Group)
Theodore Leonsis (Washington Capitals, Mystics and Wizards)
Daniel Och (Och-Ziff Capital Management)
Mark Pincus (Zynga)
Laurene Powell Jobs (Apple, gave about $900,000 to Harris Victory Fund last quarter)
Katharine Rayner (Cox Enterprises)
Stewart Resnick and Lynda Resnick (Wonderful Company)
John Sall (SAS)
Paul Sciarra (Pinterest)
George Soros (Soros Fund Management)
Jonathan Tisch and Laurie Tisch (Loews Corporation)
Todd Wagner (Broadcast.com)
Christy Walton (Walmart)
Elaine Wynn (Wynn Resorts)
Dirk Ziff (Ziff Davis).
Bloomberg reported these additional four billionaires have donated to Harris' election funds or groups supporting Harris' election:

Melinda French Gates (Microsoft, gave about $900,000 to Harris Victory Fund last quarter)
Joe Gebbia (Airbnb)
Hamilton James (Blackstone)
Margot Perot (Ross Perot widow).
These six billionaires signed a Sept. 6 open letter supporting Harris:

Mark Cuban ("Shark Tank" investor)
Jos E. Feliciano (Clearlake Capital)
Magic Johnson (NBA star and investor)
Sean Parker (Facebook)
Penny Pritzker (Hyatt hotels)
Hamdi Ulukaya (Chobani).
UPDATE (Oct. 16): And these three billionaires donated to a Harris committee during the third quarter, according to Federal Election Commission filings analyzed by the New York Times:

Tim Draper (Bitcoin)
J.B. Pritzker (Illinois governor)
Tyler Perry (Filmmaker).
And there's music stars Bruce Springsteen, who backed Harris Oct. 3, and Taylor Swift, who endorsed Harris Sept. 10.

#5 | Posted by eberly at 2024-10-17 06:47 AM

www.msn.com

#6 | Posted by eberly at 2024-10-17 07:20 AM

Beverly always rushes to the defense of the
GOP. He must have 'star spangled wallpaper and
underwear'.

When there are 'those who would back the indefensible',
there needs to be a counterweight.

Good for the billionaires and millionaires
trying to back Harris/Walsh, and get the only
sane person in the race into the White House.

#7 | Posted by earthmuse at 2024-10-17 08:21 AM

It seems to me that there is a pretty important difference between billionaires buying tax cuts and those who are trying to help decent public servants elected. We have a close race here in Florida for the Senate seat now occupied by known Medicare fraudster Rick Scott who wroye a bill to destroy Social Security and unfortunately that evil scum bag is leading which just shows how idiotic Florida voters really are

Rick Scott was in New York yesterday skipping votes, kissing up to Trump, and reminding everyone that he oversaw the largest Medicare fraud in history. Scott mistakenly thought no one would remember how he "took responsibility" for his company defrauding Medicare recipients and military families out of millions.

See below for a roundup of coverage:

MSNBC, The ReidOut: Trump Sycophant Rick Scott Attends His Trial
" Joy Reid: "Let's unpack why the Justice Department went after Rick Scott's former company, HCA. The Department joined eight whistleblower lawsuits alleging HCA defrauded Medicare, Medicaid, and military TRICARE. HCA reached a settlement agreeing to pay $1.7 billion in penalties in the largest Medicare fraud case in history " with much of the defrauding happening under Rick Scott's watch."
" "[Rick Scott] says he took responsibility' for the fraud in his former company. He also walked away from it all with $300 million in stocks, making him one of the richest members of Congress."
" "So he's really just another member of the oligarch class lining up at the Trump trough because they want total control of this country."

"WHAT THEY'RE SEEING: Rick Scott Reminds Everyone He "Took Responsibility" for the Largest Medicare Fraud in History"
May 10, 2024

www.floridadems.org

#8 | Posted by danni at 2024-10-17 08:51 AM

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