From left, billionaires Steve Wynn, Niraj Shah, Jerry Yang and Phil Ruffin. Wynn and Ruffin both wrote six-figure checks to committees supporting Donald Trump earlier this month. Shah and Yang gave to committees supporting Biden.
Calvin Sit/ Bloomberg; Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe/Getty Images; Drew Angerer/ Getty Images; J Scott Applewhite-AP PhotoAs the 2020 election draws closer, Joe Biden is extending his lead over Donald Trump in the race for billionaire donors. During the first two weeks of October, at least 23 billionaires or their spouses made donations to Biden’s committees, handing over a total of $2.3 million, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission. Forbes found 10 billionaires and spouses of billionaires who gave to Trump’s committees, supplying $907,000.
Trump’s latest donors were a collection of old pals. Phil Ruffin, who owns a 50% in the Trump International Las Vegas hotel with President Trump, gave $275,000 to the president’s joint-fundraising committee with the Republican Party, Trump Victory. Texas banker Andy Beal, whose bank was once a senior lender to Trump Entertainment Resorts, gave another $230,000. And former Republican National Committee finance chair and Wynn Resorts chief executive Steve Wynn gave $240,000. (His ex-wife billionaire Elaine Wynn recently donated $100,000 to Biden.)
Jimmy John Liautaud, who founded the sandwich chain Jimmy John’s, also gave $108,000 to Trump Victory. Ohio pet food billionaire Clayton Mathile and his wife gave $25,000, as did Minnesota broadcasting billionaire Stanley Hubbard and his wife.
Among the biggest billionaire donors to Biden’s joint-fundraising committees, private equity tycoon Bruce Karsh and his wife gave $733,500. Yahoo cofounder Jerry Yang and his wife gave $250,000. Cox media and automotive heir James Chambers gave $218,500, and Loews heiress Laurie Tisch gave $185,000. Biden also received support from two retail titans: Timothy Boyle, the billionaire CEO of Columbia Sportswear, and Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah, who each gave $100,000.
The former vice president raised additional money from sports apparel titan Michael Rubin ($50,000) and Dropbox CEO Drew Houston ($2,800). Alex Karp, the chief of newly public Palantir Technologies, also gave $50,000. Karp, who describes himself as a “progressive warrior,” according to a recent New York Times Magazine profile, also donated to Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016.
In the final push to Election Day, both campaigns are also benefiting from billionaires dumping millions into pro-Trump or pro-Biden super-PACs, which unlike joint fundraising committees, do not have contribution limits. Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, donated $75 million to an anti-Biden super-PAC called Preserve America. A pro-Biden super-PAC called Future Forward, meanwhile, raised $74 million from a group of donors, which included Silicon Valley billionaires such as Dustin Moskovitz of Asana, Ev Williams of Medium and Jeff Lawson of Twilio.
