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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event September 4 in Wilmington, Delaware.
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
Joe Biden’s presidential campaign received new contributions from 16 billionaires and their spouses in July and August, according to a review of records filed with the Federal Election Commission last week. The new bunch of donors includes notable names from Hollywood, Silicon Valley — and one of America’s richest families.
Beginning with the richest, 34-year-old Walmart heir Lukas Walton made his first ever donation to a presidential candidate, handing at least $5,600 to Biden’s camp, records show. His mother, fellow billionaire Christy Walton, was the first billionaire to donate to the anti-Trump super-PAC, The Lincoln Project, earlier this year.
From Hollywood, Star Wars creator George Lucas made his first contribution to the Biden campaign. His wife, Mellody Hobson, who is the co-CEO of a Chicago investment firm, has already given over $300,000 to committees supporting Biden. Lucas himself was an early donor to Kamala Harris in 2019. Director, actor and producer Tyler Perry, who officially joined the Forbes billionaire rankings this month, also gave to Biden in August.
More tech billionaires piled on. Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla made his first contribution in July, as did Netscape founder Jim Clark and his wife Kristy. Judy Faulkner, who is the CEO of health care software firm Epic Systems, rarely makes political contributions, but has ponied up for Biden. Her industry did well during the Obama-Biden era, especially after a 2009 law pushed hospitals to use electronic medical record systems.
Former Trump donor Jennifer Pritzker made her first contribution to Biden, as Forbes reported last week. Her cousin, billionaire Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker, also made his first contribution in July.
For most of these donors, the total amount of money they’ve given to support Biden will remain a mystery until next month. Many of the donations landed in the Biden campaign as transfers from a joint fundraising committee, either the Biden Victory Fund or the Biden Action Fund. Those committees, which raise money for both Biden and the Democratic National Committee, will release additional data next month, revealing how much money the billionaires contributed. The joint fundraising committees can accept larger contributions than campaigns can directly — up to $721,300 per person for the Victory fund. We’ve denoted contributions that came into the Biden campaign as transfers from the joint fundraising committees below, with asterisks.
Here are Biden’s newest billionaire donors, ordered by net worth:
Net worth: $15.9 billion *
Source of wealth: Walmart
Contributions to Biden: $5,600 **
Sarah Kennedy, wife of Jim Kennedy
Spouse’s net worth: $8.2 billion
Source of wealth: Media, automotive
Contributions to Biden: $5,600
Net worth: $5.6 billion
Source of wealth: Star Wars
Contributions to Biden: $5,600 **
Net worth: $5.5 billion
Source of wealth: Health IT
Contributions to Biden: $5,600 **
Hala Mnaymneh, wife of Sami Mnaymneh
Spouse’s net worth: $4 billion
Source of wealth: Private equity
Contributions to Biden: $5,600 **
Net worth: $3.4 billion
Source of wealth: Hotels, investments
Contributions to Biden: $5,600 **
Net worth: $3.1 billion
Source of wealth: Cargill
Contributions to Biden: $2,800
Cary Fowler, husband of Amy Goldman Fowler
Spouse’s net worth: $3 billion
Source of wealth: Real estate
Contributions to Biden: $5,600 **
Lauren Santo Domingo, wife of Andres Santo Domingo
Spouse’s net worth: $2.8 billion
Source of wealth: Beer
Contributions to Biden: $1,000 **
Net worth: $2.7 billion
Source of wealth: Netscape, investments
Contributions to Biden: $11,200 **
Net worth: $2.5 billion
Source of wealth: Venture capital
Contributions to Biden: $5,600 **
Net worth: $1.9 billion
Source of wealth: Hotels, investments
Contributions to Biden: $2,000
Net worth: $1.3 billion
Source of wealth: Retail
Contributions to Biden: $5,600 **
Net worth: $1.2 billion
Source of wealth: Private equity
Contributions to Biden: $5,600 **
Net worth: $1 billion
Source of wealth: Movies, television
Contributions to Biden: $5,600 **
* Forbes Real-Time net worth as of September 27, 2020
** Contributions were marked as a transfer from either the Biden Victory Fund or the Biden Action Fund in campaign records filed with the Federal Election Commission.