At Least 37 Billionaires Made Six-Figure Contributions To Committees Supporting Joe Biden…

Billionaire cash has poured into Joe Biden’s campaign since April. At least 37 billionaires and their spouses made contributions of greater than $100,000 to committees supporting Biden and the Democratic National Committee, according to Federal Election Commission filings released Wednesday. 

Many of Biden’s notable new donors, revealed for the first time in these filings, include tech giants like Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson and his wife, Erica, who each gave the maximum contribution to the Biden Victory Fund ($620,600), and Facebook billionaires Dustin Moskovitz ($620,600) and Sean Parker ($100,000). Big-time Democratic financiers George Soros and Jim Simons also pitched in.  

Two committees, the Biden Victory Fund and the Biden Action Fund, have allowed the Biden campaign to solicit six-figure contributions from wealthy donors—something that the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign has been doing since 2017 with the Trump Victory Committee. According to federal law, donors can only contribute $5,600 directly to Biden’s presidential campaign. But individuals can make contributions of up to $620,600 to the Biden Victory Fund and up to $360,600 to the Biden Action Fund. Both of those committees filed a list of its donors with the FEC for the first time Wednesday.

In total, the Biden Victory Fund has raised $86.4 million since it launched in April. It appears that at least 10% of that has come from members of the billionaire class. The Biden Action Fund has only raised $11.6 million since it launched in May, and at least 15% of that has come from billionaires.

Beyond just writing checks, billionaires on both coasts have also hosted fundraisers for Biden in recent months. Former presidential candidate Tom Steyer co-hosted a virtual fundraiser with other Bay Area donors, including Nicole Systrom, who is married to Instagram cofounder Kevin Systrom. That event, held in early June, raised $4 million. 

Later that month, Blackstone executive vice chairman Hamilton James and his wife, Amabel, also hosted a virtual fundraiser for Biden. “It’s not about how bad Trump is, it’s about how good Joe Biden would be,” Hamilton James said on the call, according to pool reports. “Joe Biden would bring decency back to the White House.”

Here is a list of billionaires Forbes has found who donated to the big-dollar committees, along with the amounts they gave, according to FEC filings.

Jeff and Erica Lawson – $1.24 million

Chris and Crystal Sacca – $1.23 million

James and Marilyn Simons – $978,400

Mark Pincus – $626,200 *

Barry Diller – $620,600

Dustin Moskovitz – $620,600

Jeff Skoll – $620,600

Laurene Powell Jobs – $610,600

George Soros – $505,600

Meg Whitman – $505,600

Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw – $500,000

Michelle Yee (wife of Reid Hoffman) – $490,600

Pat Stryker – $400,000

S. Daniel Abraham – $360,600

Tom Steyer – $360,000

Mellody Hobson (wife of George Lucas) – $307,800

Nicholas and Susan Pritzker – $306,600

Evan Williams – $250,000

Nicole Systrom (wife of Kevin Systrom) – $250,000

Stephen and Susan Mandel – $182,200

Eli Broad – $150,000

Henry and Marsha Laufer – $110,000

Eric and Wendy Schmidt – $105,600

Craig Newmark – $102,800

Martha Karsh (wife of Bruce Karsh) – $100,000

James Coulter – $100,000

Amos Hostetter Jr. – $100,000

Irwin Jacobs – $100,000

Sean Parker – $100,000

^{* This amount appears to exceed contribution limits. Forbes is awaiting comment from the DNC on the contribution’s status.}

July 17, 2020: This article was updated to include one additional billionaire donor, Irwin Jacobs.