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BULLHEAD CITY, ARIZONA – OCTOBER 28: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally on October 28, 2020 in Bullhead City, Arizona. With less than a week until Election Day, Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden are campaigning across the country. (Photo by Isaac Brekken/Getty Images)
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During the second presidential debate last week, President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden argued (among many things) over who was more embedded in Wall Street. Biden accused Trump, based on a New York Times report that members of the administration briefed the Hoover Institute’s financier-heavy board at the end of February on how dangerous the coronavirus could be, of giving Wall Street a heads up while publicly downplaying the virus. Trump shot back with his own accusation.
“You’re the one that takes all the money from Wall Street,” Trump said in response. “I don’t take it.”
Not accurate. Two of Trump’s five richest donors run financial firms. Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, who has a net worth of $17.8 billion, has donated $699,000 since 2017 to Trump Victory, which is the joint fundraising group between the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign, and another $3 million to America First, a pro-Trump super-PAC, in January. Thomas Peterffy, the CEO of Interactive Brokers who is worth $16.5 billion, was an early donor to Trump’s re-election effort, contributing $250,000 to Trump Victory in 2017. The president also counts venture capitalist Douglas Leone, investment banker Warren Stephens and money manager Ken Fisher among his backers in the financial industry.
Trump’s richest donor is casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who has a net worth of more than $31 billion. Republican megadonors, Adelson and his wife, Miriam, have spent more than $180 million on federal races this election cycle. They each contributed $580,600 to Trump Victory in February and together gave another $75 million to Preserve America, a pro-Trump super-PAC that popped up in August.
Although tech billionaire donors skew overwhelmingly Democratic, David Duffield, who amassed a $12.4 billion fortune cofounding business software companies PeopleSoft and Workday, is backing Trump. Duffield is not normally a big political giver, but in August he and his wife Cheryl contributed a combined $1.2 million to Trump Victory.
While Trump may struggle in the polls with female voters, America’s richest self-made woman is on board. Diane Hendricks, who cofounded and chairs roofing company ABC Supply and has a net worth of $8 billion, gave nearly $6 million to committees and super-PACs supporting Trump this cycle. Gail Golden-Icahn, who is married to Carl Icahn, the billionaire investor that Forbes estimates is worth $14 billion, also gave $2,800 to a committee supporting Trump. However, this year Forbes has not found any contributions made by her husband, who served as an advisor to Trump early in his presidency.
Here are the top five richest donors to Donald Trump and their political contributions to federal races based on publicly available Federal Election Commission data as of October 14, 2020:
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 28: Founder, Chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam Ochsorn attend a press conference with U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room of the White House on January 28, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Trump released details of his administration’s long-awaited Middle East peace plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Net worth: $31.2 billion
Donations to committees and super-PACs supporting Trump: $75 million (Preserve America), $1.2 million (Trump Victory)
Despite their fortune falling several billion dollars after Covid-19 temporarily shut down Adelson’s casinos, the megadonor couple has been spending heavily on the election. In addition to the $75 million they dropped on pro-Trump super-PAC Preserve America in August and September, the couple doled out $2,800 sums (the legal contribution limit) to more than two dozen candidates including Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. This year, they also gave a total of $60 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, which supports Republican Senate candidates.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 18: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE)Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman as he visits “Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street” at Fox Business Network Studios on September 18, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
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Net worth: $17.8 billion
Donations to committees and super-PACs supporting Trump: $699,400 (Trump Victory); $3 million (America First Action)
Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman has poured more than $25 million into political causes this year. Far more of that has gone toward impacting congressional races than supporting Trump. Stephen Schwarzman donated $3.7 million to a pro-Trump super-PAC and to Trump Victory, but put $20 million into a super-PAC supporting Senate Republicans and $2.5 million into a super-PAC supporting House Republicans. He also contributed $2 million to 1820 PAC, a super-PAC that supports Senator Susan Collins, who faces a tight re-election race in Maine.
Thomas Peterffy, chief executive officer of Interactive Brokers, speaks during a Senate Banking hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010. Senators Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Carl Levin of Michigan, both Democrats, called the joint subcommittee hearing to examine steps the regulators have taken in leading the U.S. response to the May 6 plunge that briefly erased $862 billion of stock value in less than 20 minutes before markets recovered. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Thomas Peterffy
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Net worth: $16.5 billion
Donations to committees and super-PACs supporting Trump: $250,000 (Trump Victory)
Peterffy got a head start on political spending this cycle, giving $250,000 to Trump Victory in September 2017. Since then, the digital trading guru has mostly laid low, giving directly to congressional and senatorial campaigns. In the final stretch of the elections, however, Peterffy gave $5 million to the Senate Leadership Fund super-PAC last month to keep the chamber out of Democratic control.
Dave Duffield, co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Workday, poses for a photo in Pleasanton, California, U.S., on Friday, May 21, 2010. Workday sells subscriptions to Internet based software that some of the world’s largest companies use to manage human resources, payroll, accounting, buying products and sending out orders. Photographer: Tony Avelar/Bloomberg *** Local Caption ***
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Net worth: $12.4 billion
Donations to committees and super-PACs supporting Trump: $1.2 million (Trump Victory)
With his and his wife’s combined $1.2 million donation to Trump Victory, the committee supporting Trump’s reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee, Duffield joins venture capitalist Peter Thiel and Oracle CEO Safra Catz on a very short list of tech billionaires who have backed the president’s re-election. Federal political donations are rare for Duffield, who is better known for his philanthropy — he cofounded and gave $345 million to Maddie’s Fund, an animal welfare charity named after his late miniature schnauzer.
Diane Hendricks, chief executive officer of ABC Supply Co., smiles during a company meeting at a hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, U.S. on Wednesday, March 4, 2015. Hendricks, whose ABC Supply is based in Beloit, Wis., is Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker’s biggest individual political benefactor. Photographer: John McCormick/Bloomberg *** Local Captiion *** Diane Hendricks
© 2015 Bloomberg Finance LP
Net worth: $8 billion
Donations to committees and super-PACs supporting Trump: $935,600 (Trump Victory), $4 million (America First Action), $1 million (Preserve America)
Hendricks ramped up her spending in the last few months ahead of the election, spending $5 million between August and September on pro-Trump super-PACs. A Badger State native and resident of Afton, Wisconsin, Hendricks also donated to Representative Tom Tiffany’s re-election in the state’s 7th District and to the coffers of Senator Ron Johnson, who will be up for re-election in 2022.