Kamala Harris Has More Billionaires Openly Backing Her Than Trump (But Many Are Staying Silent)
Key Facts
Our breakdown records 76 billionaires supporting Harris and 49 backing Trump so far (see the lists for both below).
Many more billionaires may still financially back a candidate, but their donations won’t be learned until after the election, when final Federal Election Commission reports are issued in December.
Billionaires leaning toward Harris may seem incongruous, since she often criticizes Trump for advocating for policies favorable toward billionaires—but there are practical reasons why the ultra wealthy may favor Harris.
A letter signed by more than a dozen billionaires last month endorsing Harris explained their belief Harris “will continue to advance fair and predictable policies that support the rule of law, stability, and a sound business environment,” indicating the support for the status quo as the U.S. economy and stock market exhibit strength, while a recent survey of millionaire investors—which found a 57% to 43% split in Harris’s favor—identified technology, healthcare and sustainability stocks as the sectors most poised to benefit from a Harris win, a mix friendly to many of her billionaire backers from Silicon Valley, who grew familiar with Harris during her time as a California prosecutor.
Big-Time Billionaires Who Haven’t Endorsed A Candidate:
Jeff Bezos: The Amazon founder and world’s fourth-richest man wrote Trump “showed tremendous grace and courage under literal fire” following the assassination attempt at a July 13 rally, but Bezos has not endorsed or financially backed, even though he has publicly warred with Trump during his presidency. He celebrated Biden’s election in 2020 with an Instagram post noting the Biden win indicated “unity, empathy, and decency are not characteristics of a bygone era.”
Warren Buffett: Though Berkshire Hathaway CEO Buffett said in 2020 he’s a Democrat and clapped back at Trump in 2016 for an income tax jab, Buffett, the world’s sixth-richest person, has also stayed quiet this cycle.
Mark Zuckerberg: Trump told New York Magazine that Zuckerberg said to him he can’t “vote for a Democrat in this election” after the assassination attempt. But a Meta spokesperson said Zuckerberg, the third-wealthiest person on the planet, is “not endorsing anybody in this race and has not communicated to anybody how he intends to vote.” In 2020, Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan donated $419 million toward organizations supporting in-person voting during the pandemics. The Meta CEO and Facebook cofounder called Trump’s response to the assassination attempt “badass” in a July interview.
Bill Gates: Though his ex-wife French Gates is among Harris’ deepest backers—her reported $13 million donation to Harris groups would place her among the top individual donors this cycle—the Microsoft cofounder Gates has not officially endorsed a candidate, but appeared to offer positive words toward Harris in a July interview, saying it is “great to have somebody who's younger, who can think about things like AI and how we shape that in the right way.” But “I don’t tell other people how to vote” due to his work with his nonprofit Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates added.
Jamie Dimon: Trump shared a false social media post last week touting Dimon’s endorsement, but the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, the largest U.S. bank, did not endorse any candidate, according to his spokesperson. Still, some see hints in Dimon’s words. He’s been outspoken about the election, penning an editorial in the Washington Post calling on voters “to elect a “president who is dedicated to the ideals that define and unite us.”
Ray Dalio: Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, told CNBC last month it’s the “most consequential” election of his, but he won’t endorse Harris or Trump as he desires a more moderate candidate.
Sergey Brin: The Google cofounder and eighth-wealthiest person in the world Brin said following the 2016 election he found Trump’s election “deeply offensive” as an immigrant, according to an internal video leaked in 2018, but has not made public any feelings during this cycle.
Larry Ellison and Ken Griffin: Ellison and Griffin are perhaps the most surprising billionaires who have stayed quiet in the final months of the presidential election cycle considering both have donated millions to Republican causes in the past. Griffin (Citadel) confirmed Thursday he has not financially backed Trump, adding he’s “torn” and won’t vote with a “smile on my face” as both candidates aren’t “going to receive an award for the quality of their policies” or “the quality of their leadership.” Ellison (Oracle), the second-richest person on earth, had backed Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), while Griffin, the 39th-wealthiest, had been a Gov. Nikki Haley (R-S.C.) supporter.
Which Billionaires Are Supporting Harris?
A total of 76 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)
- 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)
- Joe Gebbia (Airbnb)
- Hamilton James (Blackstone)
- Margot Perot (Ross Perot widow).
And these six billionaires signed a Sept. 6 open letter supporting Harris:
- Mark Cuban (“Shark Tank” investor)
- José E. Feliciano (Clearlake Capital)
- Magic Johnson (NBA star and investor)
- Sean Parker (Facebook)
- Penny Pritzker (Hyatt hotels)
- Hamdi Ulukaya (Chobani).
And there's music stars Bruce Springsteen, who backed Harris Oct. 3, and Taylor Swift, who endorsed Harris Sept. 10.
Which Billionaires Are Supporting Trump?
A total of 49 billionaires have been identified as Trump backers. Forbes identified in August these 26 billionaires who had donated at least $1 million toward Trump election efforts:
- Miriam Adelson (Las Vegas Sands Corp.)
- Don Ahern (Las Vegas construction)
- Andrew Beal (Beal Bank)
- George Bishop (GeoSouthern Energy oil driller)
- Timothy Dunn (Crownquest oil driller)
- Antonio Gracias (early Tesla investor)
- Diane Hendricks (ABC Supply construction)
- Robert “Woody” Johnson (New York Jets)
- Richard Kurtz (real estate)
- Douglas Leone (Sequoia Capital)
- Jimmy John Liautaud (Jimmy John's sandwich shop)
- Jeff Sprecher (husband to former Sen. Kelly Loeffler)
- Bernard Marcus (Home Depot)
- Linda McMahon (WWE)
- Timothy Mellon (heir to old-money Mellon family)
- Geoffrey Palmer (Los Angeles real estate)
- Roger Penske (Penske Automotive Group)
- J. Joe Ricketts (Chicago Cubs)
- Phil Ruffin (Treasure Island Las Vegas)
- Kenny Troutt (horse racing)
- Elizabeth Uihlein and Richard Uihlein (Uline packaging)
- Kelcy Warren (Energy Transfer pipeliner)
- Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss (twin Gemini crypto exchange founders)
- Steve Wynn (Wynn Resorts).
Another 16 billionaires gave between $50,000 and $999,999 to groups supporting Trump:
- John Catsimatidis (Gristedes)
- Gary Chouest (Edison Chouest Offshore)
- Ray Davis (Texas Rangers)
- Darwin Deason (Affiliated Computer Services)
- Tilman Fertitta (Houston Rockets)
- Harold Hamm (Continental Resources)
- Palmer Luckey (Oculus VR)
- John Paulson (Paulson & Co.)
- Edward Roski, Jr. (Majestic Realty)
- Stephen Schwarzman (Blackstone)
- Thomas Siebel (Siebel Systems)
- Paul Singer (Elliott Management)
- Warren Stephens (Stephens Inc.)
- Terry Taylor (car dealerships)
- Stephen Winn (RealPage)
- William Wrigley, Jr. (Wrigley).
Then there’s Musk (Tesla and SpaceX CEO), who appeared alongside Trump at a Saturday rally and whose America PAC is offering $47 for referrals of swing state voters who sign a petition to "pledge support" for the First and Second Amendments, and other known Trump supporters like hedge fund founder Bill Ackman (Pershing Square Capital Management), who endorsed Trump in July but has reportedly not donated to his campaign, Marc Andreesen (Andreessen Horowitz), Jeff Hildebrand (Hilcorp), Isaac Perlmutter (Marvel Entertainment), Thomas Peterffy (Interactive Brokers) and Gary Rollins (Rollins Inc.), according to media reports and Bloomberg’s analysis of public election records last month.
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