Really split screen: Former vice president and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden speaks in ... [+]
Joe Biden’s presidential campaign picked up contributions from five new donors who are billionaires or are married to ones in April, while Donald Trump’s campaign did not receive any new contributions last month, according to a review of Federal Election Commission filings. Biden’s campaign has now received contributions from 100 billionaires and their spouses, compared to 92 who have pitched in to Trump’s campaign.
Biden and his wife, Jill, are holding virtual fundraisers amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Penny Pritzker, a billionaire heiress to the Hyatt hotels fortune who served as secretary of commerce in the Obama administration, hosted one of those gatherings in early April.
Billionaire Craigslist founder Craig Newmark made his first contribution to Biden’s campaign last month. “I support candidates committed to fighting corruption and those who have a record of standing up for our veterans,” Newmark wrote in an email about his support for Biden. “I plan to do more to help in the days ahead.”
Newmark, who gave $2,800 to the campaign, would not say how much he is planning to contribute to Biden in total. He said his “serious focus” is on philanthropy. His Craig Newmark Philanthropies supports journalism and voter protections, among other causes. His largest contribution on record with the FEC is a $35,800 donation he made to a Barack Obama joint fundraising committee in 2011.
It’s not entirely clear how coronavirus has impacted Trump’s billionaire support. While he did not receive any contributions from new billionaire donors, his campaign reported one additional contribution last month from Nora Moroun, who had previously given to Trump and is married to Michigan transportation and logistics billionaire Manuel Moroun. The president’s joint fundraising committees, Trump Victory and Trump Make America Great Again, report the names of their donors to the FEC on a quarterly basis, so they did not have to release their lists this month.
Biden’s fundraising, which had lagged behind other Democratic candidates ahead of the primaries, has picked up speed with the help of the Democratic National Committee. Still, Trump raised money at a slightly faster clip than Biden last month. The president’s campaign, the RNC and its committees said that they raised $61.7 million in April. The Democratic National Committee and the Biden campaign, meanwhile, said they had raised $60.5 million.
In April, the Biden campaign refunded a $2,800 contribution from oil billionaire George Kaiser. The Biden campaign has said that it is not accepting contributions from fossil fuel executives.
Here are the newest billionaire donors to Biden. To see the rest of Biden’s donors, go here. To see Trump’s donors, go here and here.
Wendy Schmidt, wife of Eric Schmidt
Spouse’s net worth: $15 billion *
Source of wealth: Google
Contributions: $2,800 **
Margot Pritzker, wife of Thomas Pritzker
Spouse’s net worth: $3.7 billion
Source of wealth: Hotels, investments
Contributions: $2,800
Net worth: $2.7 billion
Source of wealth: Bloomberg LP
Contributions: $5,600
Susan Pritzker, wife of Nicholas Pritzker
Spouse’s net worth: $1.9 billion
Source of wealth: Hotels, investments
Contributions: $5,600
Net worth: $1.3 billion
Source of wealth: Craigslist
Contributions: $2,800
* Forbes’ Real-Time net worth as of May 27, 2020.
** Contribution amounts represent total money given to the Biden for President campaign committee through April 30, 2020, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Forbes did not look at super-PAC contributions for this analysis.
