As the 2024 US presidential election campaign heats up, billionaires are backing Democratic presumptive nominee Biden and Republican presidential candidate Trump with financial support.
Since narrowly escaping an assassination attempt last Saturday (July 13), former US President Trump’s campaign team has received substantial funding from major donors. On the other hand, President Biden has also garnered support from some billionaire backers.
After a brief pause following the assassination incident, both sides have re-entered campaign mode, with the Republican Party holding its national convention this week and the Democratic Party scheduled to convene in August. It is expected that the campaign activities between Biden and Trump will intensify in the coming days.
Major fundraising organizations of the campaign teams and political parties, along with some key Super PACs, submitted quarterly reports to the Federal Election Commission on Monday (July 15), with a deadline at the end of June.
According to Bloomberg’s report, in the second quarter, Biden and the Democratic Party raised $2.63 billion, with $2.4 billion in cash on hand. Biden’s fundraising in the second quarter surpassed that of Trump. Major Democratic Super PACs supporting Biden, including Future Forward PAC and American Bridge, will release their reports next Saturday (July 20).
In June, Biden raised $127 million, while Trump raised $112 million.
From the first presidential debate on June 27 to the end of June, Biden raised $38 million for his campaign and the Democratic Party. Major Democratic donors have also expressed their support for him.
Hedge fund manager George Soros donated $5 million to Future Forward PAC.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and real estate developer Herbert Simon recently made six-figure donations to Biden’s campaign team and the Democratic Party.
In June, Biden held a grand fundraising event in Los Angeles with former President Obama, where he received over $30 million in donations from Hollywood stars like film producer J.J. Abrams and actress Julia Roberts.
Real estate investor Wayne Jordan, philanthropist Quinn Delaney, and Philip Munger also made donations in June.
Philip Munger is the son of the late friend of Warren Buffett, Charles Munger.
Trump and the Republican National Committee raised $331 million in May, without disclosing the total cash amount. MAGA (Make America Great Again Inc.) Super PAC will release its next report on Saturday.
Following a conviction in the case related to “hush money,” Trump witnessed a surge in fundraising at the end of May.
Apart from raising millions online, financial industry figures such as Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman, private equity veteran John Childs, and Chamath Palihapitiya, former vice president of Facebook and founder of the venture capital firm Social Capital, handed six-figure checks to Trump’s campaign team and the Republican Party the day after the verdict.
Trump also received nearly $420,000 in donations from Paul Singer, the billionaire founder of Elliott Investment Management LP, one of the world’s largest hedge funds.
Co-founders of Home Depot Bernie Marcus, cryptocurrency billionaire twins Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss, and billionaire Diane Hendricks, owner of ABC Supply Co., all contributed funds.
Trump’s two auxiliary donation organizations – Right for America and America PAC – reported receiving substantial donations.
Former chairman of Marvel Entertainment Isaac Perlmutter and his wife Linda each donated $5 million to Right for America.
America PAC raised $8.8 million in the second quarter. Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir Technologies, and the Winklevoss brothers were among other major contributors to the organization’s fundraising efforts.