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As the 2024 race heats up, Trump is getting support from a variety of billionaires.
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Some are true believers, while others backed Trump’s GOP rivals before coming around to him.
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Here are some of the billionaires who are contributing to Trump this year.
As former President Donald Trump seeks a second term in the White House, he’s increasingly turning to billionaires to power his campaign.
Some of them are longtime associates and supporters — true believers who know the former president from his days in the business world.
Others may be relative newcomers, such as long-time GOP megadonors who backed his 2016 or 2024 rivals.
One of Trump’s billionaire supporters is North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, the former software mogul who sought the GOP nomination in 2024 and is now in contention to be VP.
“If you’re a billionaire and you care about your shareholders, you care about your family, you care about your grandkids, you should be voting for someone that’s going to bring prosperity to America and peace to the world,” Burgum said on Fox News in April.
Here’s an extensive — though not exhaustive — list of some of the billionaires who are contributing to Trump’s 2024 campaign, including to his “Trump 47” joint fundraising committee, which splits proceeds between the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee.
Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein
Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein — the founders of Uline, a packing and shipping company — have long been reliable donors to a variety of conservative causes and candidates.
That included bankrolling an effort to make it harder to amend the Ohio constitution in 2023.
The Uihleins started this cycle supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s presidential bid. Each gave $1.5 million to DeSantis’s super PAC, Never Back Down.
Elizabeth told The Financial Times in March that she and her husband would donate a similar amount to Trump — while also bemoaning the fact that she and her husband had to spend money on the presidential race at all.
“These two guys are very well-defined. I don’t understand why everybody has to give all this money,” she told the outlet, referring to Trump and Biden. “Neither of them have to spend a penny. We all know who they are. It’s ridiculous.”
Kelly Loeffler and Jeff Sprecher
Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler and her husband, Jeff Sprecher, have each contributed $824,600 to the Trump 47 Committee.
Loeffler was appointed to the Senate at the end of 2019 by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp after the death of Sen. Johnny Isakson.
She later lost in a runoff election in January 2021 to Democrat Raphael Warnock, who went on to win a full term in 2022.
Sprecher, meanwhile, is the CEO of Intercontinental Exchange and previously served as the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange.
Joe Ricketts, the founder and former CEO of TD Ameritrade, has given $824,600 to the Trump 47 Committee. His wife, Marleen, gave $814,600.
In 2019, Ricketts — whose family owns the Chicago Cubs — was found to have sent racist and Islamophobic emails during the 2012 election, for which he later apologized.
“Christians and Jews can have a mutual respect for each other to create a civil society. As you know, Islam cannot do that,” Ricketts wrote in one 2012 email. “Therefore we cannot ever let Islam become a large part of our society. Muslims are naturally my (our) enemy due to their deep antagonism and bias against non-Muslims.”
Last year, one of Ricketts’ sons — former Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts — was appointed to the US Senate after former Sen. Ben Sasse opted to retire.
The younger Ricketts is likely to be elected to the remainder of Sasse’s term in November.
Robert Bigelow, the hotel chain mogul who launched a spaceflight company in 2018, was originally a major DeSantis donor this cycle.
“I will give him more money and go without food,” Bigelow told TIME after pouring more than $20 million into the Florida governor’s “Never Back Down” super PAC in March 2023.
He has since pivoted, donating more than $10 million to Trump-aligned PACs since February 2024.
Bigelow also told Reuters in January that he would be contributing $1 million to pay Trump’s mounting legal fees as well.
“I was just sympathetic. They didn’t solicit anything from me,” Bigelow told the outlet.
Linda McMahon
Linda McMahon, who founded World Wrestling Entertainment with her husband Vince, has given $10 million to the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. super PAC, along with $814,600 to the Trump 47 Committee.
McMahon served as the head of the Small Business Administration from 2017-2019 under Trump.
She’s also the chair of the board of the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-aligned think tank.
Phil Ruffin
Phil Ruffin, a casino magnate, has contributed $2 million to Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC and $814,600 to the Trump 47 Committee.
Ruffin is a long-time associate and business partner of Trump’s — he co-owns the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas alongside the Trump Organization.
Ruffin also accompanied Trump to Moscow in 2013 for the Miss Universe Pageant.
That trip figured prominently in the largely unverified Steele Dossier, which alleged that the Russians may have blackmailed Trump by filming him being urinated on by Russian prostitutes.
Geoffrey Palmer
Geoffrey Palmer, a Los Angeles-based real estate developer, has also given $2 million to Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC and $814,600 to the Trump 47 Committee.
Palmer has hosted Trump for multiple fundraisers in Los Angeles, including one that took place in September 2023.
José “Pepe” Fanjul
Fanjul, a sugar magnate, has given $814,600 to the Trump 47 Committee.
While José Fanjul has long been a GOP megadonor, his brother Alfonso has a history as a major Democratic megadonor.
Kelcy Warren
Kelcy Warren, the chairman and former CEO of the pipeline company Energy Transfer Partners, has given $814,600 to the Trump 47 Committee.
Warren’s company is the owner of the Dakota Access Pipeline, the construction of which spurred major protests by environmental activists and the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in 2016.
Though he was a major Trump donor in 2020, he also donated $26,400 to a pro-DeSantis super PAC in June 2023.
Warren co-hosted a fundraiser for Trump in Houston in May.
Robert and Rebekah Mercer
Robert Mercer, a former hedge fund CEO, has given $814,399 to the Trump 47 Committee.
Both Robert and his daughter Rebekah have been major contributors to pro-Trump and more anti-establishment conservative causes, including helping to fund the right-wing Breitbart website and the conservative social media app Parler.
John Paulson
John Paulson, a billionaire hedge fund manager, has contributed $806,300 to the Trump 47 Committee.
He’s long been an associate of the former president and has advised him an economic matters. Bloomberg recently reported that he could serve as Treasury Secretary under a second Trump administration.
In April, Paulson hosted Trump and his wife, Melania, for a fundraiser at his Palm Beach home.
That event, attended by several other billionaires on this list, raised more than $50 million, according to the campaign.
Woody Johnson
Woody Johnson, an heir to the Johnson and Johnson pharmaceutical fortune and a co-owner of the New York Jets with his brother, has been a major financial backer of Trump’s.
He’s given $1 million to the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. super PAC, and both Johnson and his wife Suzanne recently contributed $806,300 apiece to the Trump 47 Committee.
Johnson served as the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom during Trump’s presidency.
Steve Wynn
Casino mogul and real estate developer Steve Wynn has given $806,300 to the Trump 47 Committee this year.
Wynn, a longtime GOP megadonor, served as the vice-chairman of Trump’s inaugural committee in 2017.
He has been accused of both sexual misconduct and of acting as a foreign agent on behalf of China, though a judge tossed out the latter charge.
Harold Hamm
Harold Hamm, an oil and gas magnate, has contributed $614,000 to the Trump 47 Committee and $200,000 to the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. super PAC.
“Republican, Democrat… I’m an oilocrat,” he told the Financial Times in 2022.
Despite his current supporter for Trump — and his attendance of numerous fundraisers on the former president’s behalf — Hamm contributed thousands to both Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Ambassador Nikki Haley last year.
He even reportedly told Trump in 2023 that he should end his presidential campaign, citing his “chaos.”
“I know he wasn’t happy,” Hamm told the Financial Times of the call. “That’s all I can do. How seriously he takes that recommendation, I don’t know.”
Ike Perlmutter
Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, the former chairman of Marvel Entertainment, has long been an informal advisor to Trump, including on veterans’ affairs.
He reportedly became friends with the former president through his membership at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
In March, Perlmutter and his wife Laura each gave $5 million to Right for America, a pro-Trump super PAC.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Amanda Smith is a dedicated U.S. correspondent with a passion for uncovering the stories that shape the nation. With a background in political science, she provides in-depth analysis and insightful commentary on domestic affairs, ensuring readers are well-informed about the latest developments across the United States.
