Trump's Top Billionaire Donors

Forbes

Some of the nation’s wealthiest people are powering Trump’s bid to return to the White House: His 26 biggest billionaire backers, worth a combined $143 billion, have poured $162 million into the effort so far. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/leokamin/2024/08/14/here-are-trumps-top-billionaire-donors/  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 top billionaire donors.

00:06At the Republican National Convention last month,

00:08Donald Trump's vice-presidential pick, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, said,

00:14"...we need a leader who's not in the pocket of big business, but answers to the working man,

00:19a leader who won't sell out to multinational corporations,

00:22but will stand up for American companies and American industry."

00:27However, federal election commission filings tell a slightly different story.

00:32Many of the nation's richest individuals, including founders and executives

00:36at some of America's biggest businesses, have backed the Trump-Vance ticket.

00:41In fact, 26 billionaires have already given more than $1 million apiece

00:46to pro-Trump PACs and committees.

00:49But there may still be something to Vance's distinction between

00:52multinational corporations and, quote,

00:55American companies, at least when it comes to who supports Trump.

00:59Of the former president's 26 biggest billionaire donors,

01:0316 derive their fortunes from private, often family-held corporations based in the U.S.

01:08Many of them, like Diane Hendricks' ABC Supply and Liz and Dick Uline's Uline,

01:14openly celebrate their track record of operating mostly in the U.S.

01:18and generating American jobs.

01:21This list includes a few heirs like Johnson & Johnson's scion, Woody Johnson,

01:25and Miriam Adelson, the widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.

01:30But the vast majority of the donors, 22 out of 26,

01:34have built their own billion-dollar empires.

01:37The top industries among Trump's top billionaire backers

01:40are casinos, 4 billionaires, finance, 3 billionaires,

01:45and oil and gas, 3 billionaires.

01:48In an election year, money flows fast.

01:51Since Forbes first looked at Trump's top billionaire backers two months ago,

01:55Adelson has rocketed up the ranks,

01:57now the fourth biggest donor after a huge lump-sum gift in late May.

02:02And she reportedly has plans that could soon take her to the top of the list.

02:06Also new to the top ten are stock exchange billionaire Jeff Sprecher

02:10and his wife, former senator Kelly Loeffler.

02:13Hendricks has also moved up, from fourth to third.

02:17Those moves push the New York Jets owner Woody Johnson

02:20and the Los Angeles real estate magnate Jeffrey Palmer out of the top ten.

02:25Five of these donors have given to the newly launched AmericaPak,

02:29which Elon Musk says he helped start.

02:32It was created in May and has already spent close to $8 million

02:35on pro-Trump field operations and text campaigns.

02:39It was widely reported that Musk had pledged $45 million a month to the SuperPak,

02:44Musk has since said he will be supporting the group at a, quote,

02:46much lower level, and he has not reported a federal contribution since 2020.

02:52Musk may not yet make the list,

02:54but his longtime friend and investor Antonio Gracias does.

02:58He gave AmericaPak $1 million in June.

03:02Here are a few of the billionaires at the very top of Trump's donor list.

03:06Number one, Timothy Mellon, whose net worth is nearly $1 billion

03:10and who has given $76.5 million in donations to Trump groups.

03:15Mellon keeps a low profile.

03:17He's rarely photographed and lists a P.O. box

03:20in a 1,000-person Wyoming town as his address.

03:23But no donor has made a bigger splash this election.

03:27An heir to an American fortune that dates back more than a century,

03:31he made some money of his own in the railroad industry.

03:34Mellon's donations to Trump groups include a $50 million gift

03:37the day after Trump's felony conviction.

03:40Separately, he gave $25 million to support Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

03:45Number two, Linda McMahon, whose net worth is $3.1 billion

03:50and who has given $16 million to Trump groups.

03:53McMahon and her husband, Vince, built World Wrestling Entertainment

03:57into a billion-dollar entertainment juggernaut.

04:00She has been involved in politics for years,

04:02running unsuccessfully for Senate in Connecticut in 2010 and 2012,

04:06and then serving as head of the Small Business Administration under Trump.

04:10She's still close to the center of the MAGA orbit,

04:12chairing the pro-Trump nonprofit America First Policy Institute

04:16and serving on the board of Truth Social's parent company,

04:19Trump Media and Technology Group.

04:22Number three, Diane Hendricks, whose net worth is $20.9 billion

04:27and who has given $6.3 million to Trump groups.

04:31On the stage at the Republican National Convention

04:33in her home state of Wisconsin last month,

04:35Hendricks celebrated her title of America's richest self-made woman,

04:39spoke about her pro-life views,

04:41and accused the Biden-Harris administration of stifling entrepreneurship.

04:45A former Playboy bunny, her building materials company, ABC Supply,

04:50now does $20 billion in yearly revenue.

04:54For full coverage and to see our whole list of all 26 billionaire Trump donors,

04:59check out Leo Kamen's piece on Forbes.com.

05:04This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.

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