Trump’s Biggest Billionaire Donors

Forbes

The former president has plenty of rich friends, who are handing over a fortune to put him back in the White House—even though he is giving nothing.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/leokamin/2024/06/26/here-are-trumps-10-biggest-billionaire-donors-mcmahon-mellon-uiehlein/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, here are Trump's 10 biggest billionaire donors.

00:07When Donald Trump launched his 2016 presidential campaign, which personally cost him $66 million,

00:13he said, quote,

00:14I don't need anybody's money.

00:16It's nice.

00:17I'm not using donors.

00:20Trump did, in fact, rely on donors in 2016, but nowhere near as much as he is today.

00:27The former president has so far not given a dime to his own campaign.

00:31Meanwhile, other billionaires have poured millions into groups that back him, and in

00:36some cases other candidates as well.

00:39The top 10 biggest billionaire donors are all longtime supporters of the former president,

00:44and they have already given $123 million to groups supporting Trump this cycle, according

00:49to the most recent Federal Election Commission filings.

00:53That may sound like a lot of money, but these folks are worth more than $55 billion combined,

00:59giving them plenty of leftover financial firepower.

01:02Expect more big checks over the next five months, as America decides for the third time

01:08whether to put Trump in the White House.

01:11At the top of Trump's donor list is Timothy Mellon, who has given $76.5 million to Trump

01:17groups so far.

01:18A scion of the Mellon family, whose roughly $14 billion fortune dates to the Gilded Age,

01:24Timothy Mellon turned heads by plowing $50 million into a pro-Trump super PAC the day

01:30after a New York jury convicted the former president on 34 felony charges.

01:35Mellon, who gave $20 million to another Trump group in 2020, launched a computer programming

01:41company in the 1960s, then started buying railroads to form a firm, which he sold in

01:462022 for $600 million.

01:50He has also spent more than $1 million trying to find the wreckage of Amelia Earhart's plane.

01:56At number two is Linda McMahon, whose net worth is $2.9 billion and who has given $11.1

02:02million to Trump groups.

02:05McMahon, whose husband Vince turned a regional wrestling league into the multi-billion-dollar

02:10World Wrestling Entertainment Empire, served as head of the Small Business Administration

02:15during Trump's first stint in the White House.

02:18She left her post to co-chair Trump's main super PAC ahead of the 2020 election.

02:23Her husband, Vince, resigned from his role as the executive chairman of WWE's parent

02:27company in January amid sexual misconduct allegations.

02:32Today, Linda McMahon, who unsuccessfully ran for Senate in Connecticut in 2010 and 2012,

02:39chairs the Trump-friendly nonprofit America First Policy Institute.

02:43Fox Business host Larry Kudlow is vice chair.

02:47McMahon also serves on the board of the Trump Media and Technology Group.

02:52At number three is Kelsey Warren, whose net worth is $6.3 billion and who has given $5.8

02:58million to Trump groups.

03:01Warren is the executive chairman of Energy Transfer, the company that owns the Dakota

03:05Access Pipeline, which Trump helped expedite after taking office in 2017.

03:11The oil began to flow later that year, and Warren, who gave $100,000 to support Trump's

03:162016 campaign, has remained loyal to the former president.

03:20He gave more than $11 million to support his re-election effort in 2020.

03:26At number four is Diane Hendricks, whose net worth is $20.9 billion and who has given $5.5

03:33million to Trump groups so far.

03:36Hendricks is the richest self-made woman in America.

03:40She served as vice chair of one of Trump's 2016 fundraising committees and donated more

03:44than $6 million during the 2020 cycle.

03:48Hendricks co-founded ABC Supply with her late husband, Ken, then built it into a $20 billion

03:54construction materials behemoth.

03:58At number five is Timothy Dunn, whose net worth is $2.2 billion and who has given $5

04:04million to Trump groups.

04:07Dunn got rich in the oil fields of West Texas, where he founded a privately owned well operator

04:11named Crown Quest.

04:13He began giving to Trump in 2020, but scaled up his donations this cycle.

04:18Besides the $5 million Dunn gave Trump's biggest super PAC in December, Dunn has also given

04:23another $2.5 million to other Republican committees, including one supporting Indiana Representative

04:29Jim Banks and Florida Senator Rick Scott.

04:33For full coverage and to see the rest of the list, check out Leo Kamen's piece on Forbes.com.

04:41This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:43Thanks for tuning in.

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