Wall Street Flows Money to Harris as Musk and Crypto Support Trump
Date: 2024-09-23 Author: Henry Casey Categories: BUSINESS
Donors from Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood played a key role in boosting Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign fundraising in August.
The surge in funding gave Democrats a significant lead over former President Donald Trump heading into the most expensive part of the presidential race, according to a recent report from Fortune.
Harris’ campaign raised an impressive $361 million in August, bringing the Democratic Party’s total fundraising to $404 million.
By comparison, Trump’s campaign raised $130 million in the same period, spending $32 million more than it raised, thanks to an expensive ad campaign aimed at blunting Harris’s gains.
Harris Leads in Funding Race
Trump’s main super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., has also seen its holdings shrink significantly.
Despite close polling, Harris has established a clear lead in the funding race.
Her fundraising efforts have included a slew of events in places like San Francisco and the Hamptons, attracting wealthy California donors.
Harris’ campaign and fellow super PAC, Future Forward PAC, have secured $421 million in paid media in the final months before the election, nearly double the $216 million booked by Trump and MAGA Inc.
The financial sector has been a significant source of support for Harris.
Notable contributors include Oaktree Capital Management’s Bruce Karsh, Bessemer Venture Partners’ Robert Stavis, and I Squared Capital co-founder Sadeq Wahba.
Other notable donors include Janice Savin Williams of Siebert Williams Shanke, legendary oil trader Andy Hall, and JPMorgan Chase vice chairman John Rosenwald.
Even Hollywood has thrown its weight behind Harris, with celebrities like Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, and Carol Burnett donating to her campaign.
In addition to her traditional fundraising, Harris has received significant support from Future Forward PAC, which raised $36 million in August, thanks to $3 million each from Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and venture capitalist Matt Kohler’s Pacific Environmental Coalition.
Significantly, Ripple Labs co-founder Christian Larsen donated $1 million in the cryptocurrency XRP, highlighting the growing influence of digital assets in political finance.
Trump Gains New Sources of Support
On the other hand, Donald Trump’s campaign has gained new sources of support, particularly from the crypto industry, which he has been actively courting.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has made his largest political donation to date, giving $289,100 to the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Musk has also created a super PAC to support Trump and congressional Republicans, but details of its donors will not be revealed until next month.
Long-term Republican donors like hedge fund manager Paul Singer, who had previously stayed away from Trump, have now begun donating.
Prominent donors who backed Trump and the Republican Party in August included Andreessen Horowitz’s Marc Andreessen, Interactive Brokers Group Chairman Thomas Peterffy, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Edward Glaser.
Other big donations came from casino owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta and billionaire Diane Hendricks, who donated $10 million to MAGA Inc.
