Billionaires love Hillary Clinton, not so keen on actual billionaire Donald Trump
Capital Research Center
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has taken in $21.1 million for her campaign and its supporting political action committees from U.S. billionaires, more than 20 times the $1.02 million Republican Donald Trump has taken in from billionaires, Bloomberg News
reports.
While the role the wealthiest play in American politics has come under increased scrutiny with growing attention to income inequality fueling the rise of populist candidates, contributions from U.S. billionaires on the Bloomberg index amount to 3 percent of the $708 million raised by the two candidates, as of the latest Federal Election Commission filings.
Hedge fund billionaire George Soros is the biggest spender among donors on the index, giving almost $11.9 million to Clinton’s cause. A Hungarian immigrant to the U.S., Soros is the 17th-richest person in the country with $24.7 billion, according to the index.
Among Clinton’s billionaire backers, the top five donors are:
George Soros $11.9 million
James Simons $7 million
Steven Spielberg $1.4 million
Alice Walton $356,000
Laurene Powell Jobs $205,000
Among Trump’s billionaire backers, the top five donors are:
Bradley W. Hughes Sr. $449,000
Richard LeFrak $100,000
Thomas Peterffy $100,000
Daniel “Andy” Beal $100,000
Kelcy Warren $100,000
Bloomberg notes that casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and Home Depot Inc. co-founder Bernard Marcus, wrote op-eds endorsing Trump earlier this year.
Marcus reportedly pledged to give Trump’s campaign $3 million and Adelson is still considering giving Trump $5 million.
Matthew Vadum -- Bio and
Archives |
Comments
Matthew Vadum, matthewvadum.blogspot.com, is an investigative reporter.
His new book Subversion Inc. can be bought at Amazon.com (US), Amazon.ca (Canada)
Visit the Subversion Inc. Facebook page. Follow me on Twitter.