31/07/2021
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Those who finance Washington DC: These are the 12 mega donors of American politics
Miguel Diaz | TheB(ee)(e)L 05/07/21, 15:51
Capitol
Undated image of the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (IvanPC/Flickr/CC BY 2.0)
Twelve American donors have contributed—note this number—$ 3.4 billion to the U.S. political scene since 2009, representing a thirteenth of all the money used in electoral campaigns.
You may be wondering who these people are … We anticipate there are some names you know very well.
The data below was provided by Issue One, an American non-partisan organization that militates to reduce the place that money occupies in the political life of the United States.
The list includes, among others, several Wall Street billionaires, a Facebook co-founder, a shipping mogul, and an heir to a family fortune dating back to the late 1800s.
As you can imagine, these enormous amounts of money went to both Republicans and Democrats.
12) Paul Singer
Paul Singer, Principal, Elliott Management, USA, attends the session ‘The Global Financial Context—Reinforcing Critical Systems’ at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 23, 2013. (World Economic Forum/Flickr by Wikimedia Commons)
He is the founder, president, and co-CEO of Elliott Management, a hedge fund specializing in buying debt from companies or countries that are virtually bankrupt.
His business is then to sue his debtors for not being able to meet their commitments.
This is why it is known as a vulture fund.
Argentines probably know him.
He contributed $ 63 million to American politics.
11) Joe and Marlene Ricketts
With $66 million, the Ricketts couple appears.
They are the owners of TD Ameritrade, a broker that offers an electronic trading platform for trading financial assets.
10) Timothy and Patricia Mellon
Timothy is heir to the Mellon banking fortune and is currently the president of Pan Am Systems.
He and his wife Patricia contributed $ 70 million.
9) Dustin Moskovitz and Cari Tuna
Dustin Moskovitz. (Moskov/Wikimedia Commons)
In ninth place, someone from Big Tech appears for the first time.
It is nothing more and nothing less than the co-founder of Facebook.
And as you can imagine, the $83 million he contributed from 2009 to political campaigns went to the Democratic Party.
8) Fred Eychaner
A media mogul with a strong presence in the city of Chicago.
Eychaner has donated $ 92 million to Democratic campaigns.
He is also a huge financier of groups belonging to the LGBT lobby.
In fact, in 2015, he was inducted into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame.
He has also donated millionaire sums to the Clinton Foundation.
7) Jim and Marilyn Simons
Jim Simons is the founder of Renaissance Technologies, the most potent high-risk investment fund.
In the past 12 years, he has contributed $93 million to Democratic Party campaigns.
6) Donald Sussman
Another Wall Street strongman.
Sussman is the founder and president of the firm Paloma Capital.
In 2016, Sussman donated $40 million to the Democratic super PACs making him the most prominent single supporter of the Democrats and Clinton in the 2016 election cycle.
He has donated $98 million since 2009.
5) Ken Griffin
Another hedge fund man, but in this case aligned with the Republican Party.
He is the founder, CEO and owns 85% of Citadel.
In total, he spent $107 million financing different campaigns of the Great Old Party.
4) Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein
Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein are American billionaire entrepreneurs, founders of Uline, the leading distributor of packaging and industrial supplies in North America.
The couple is one of the biggest donors to the Republican Party, and they have always supported conservative causes. In recent years, he has also funded several Super PACs from the Donald Trump campaign.
In the last 12 years, they have donated $138 million to political campaigns.
3) Sheldon and Miriam Adelson
Sheldon Adelson built a global gambling empire with casinos in Macau, Singapore, and Las Vegas.
He was one of the first billionaires to support the 2016 candidacy of Donald Trump, with whom he was close friends, and his influence in the Conservative movement spanned years.
He passed away this year from cancer.
In these years, he has donated $523 million to political causes.
2) Tom Steyer and Kat Taylor
Tom Steyer is the owner of the investment firm Farallon Capital.
He and his wife spent $653 million on politics. Half of that sum went to his vain 2020 White House run for the Democratic Party.
1) Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg. (Rubenstein/Flickr by Wikimedia Commons)
The person who has spent the most on federal political campaigns since 2009 is the tycoon and former mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg.
Bloomberg spent 1.4 billion, of which $ 1 billion went to his failed 2020 presidential campaign.
Bloomberg was a lifelong Democrat until 2001 when he switched to the Republican Party to run for mayor. He became independent in 2007 and re-registered as a Democrat in October 2018.
He endorsed the reelection of Barack Obama in 2012 and supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
Beyond partisan positions, it is essential to highlight the enormous amount of money involved in politics and question whether politicians defend their convictions or those of their donors.
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Tags:Political donations Issue One