Sep 30, 2015
Given that we’re in an election cycle, for the new Forbes 400 list of America’s richest we scrutinized how these billionaires influence politics, primarily through their political giving.
At least 207 members of The Forbes 400 gave to candidates or political action committees (PACs) so far in 2015, according to data from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics –known for its Opensecrets.org website. There’s a chance that Forbes 400 members have donated even more than we tallied, because donations to politically active nonprofits, known as 501(c)(4)s and 501(c)(6)s but more commonly referred to as dark money groups, don’t require public disclosures.
Looking just at donations made directly to candidates (not through PACs): 33 Forbes 400 listees gave to Hillary Clinton, 21 gave to Marco Rubio, 19 gave to Jeb Bush and 9 gave to Lindsey Graham. Seven of the other candidates — Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Martin O’Malley, Mike Huckabee, Bernie Sanders and Rand Paul –received donations from fewer than 5 members of The Forbes 400.
Here’s a breakdown of the top political givers, ranked from the richest to less rich:
Warren Buffett
Net worth: $62 billion
Age: 85 Residence: Omaha
Buffett is, without a doubt, Hillary Clinton’s richest proponent. He has long supported the former First Lady’s bid to return to the White House—donating to her campaign and, perhaps more crucially, adding his stamp of approval. He and his wife each made $2,700 donations in April, and he gave $33,400 to the DNC Services Corp. – a PAC that supports Democratic candidates. While he has firmly sided with Clinton, he’s made admiring comments about Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a far left politician. An outspoken liberal, Buffett has quietly become a big backer of Planned Parenthood and gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety.
Charles Koch
Net worth: $41 billion
Age: 79 Residence: Wichita, Kans.
David Koch
Net worth: $41 billion
Age: 75 Residence: New York City
“Will you stand with us to help save our country?” Charles Koch asked the crowd gathered at the Freedom Partners Policy Leaders conference in California in August. In attendance were Republican hopefuls Jeb Bush, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, all there to pay their respects to the Kochs. Donald Trump wasn’t invited. Charles compares his crusade for smaller government and economic liberty to the civil rights campaign, and his network of wealthy conservatives hopes to spend up to $300 million on candidates and another $600 million on efforts to reduce regulations and reform the criminal justice system.
Michael Bloomberg
Net worth: $38.6 billion
Age: 73 Residence: New York City
Formerly America’s richest politician as New York City mayor. Bloomberg, a lifelong Democrat before running on the Republican ticket as mayor and serving three terms, still wields enormous political clout, spending millions supporting progressive issues such as gun control and women’s economic development. He gave about $200,000 to his Independence USA PAC this year, which supports gun control, marriage equality and education policy. His work has earned him some powerful supporters: In August conservative billionaire Rupert Murdoch publicly urged him to run for president.
George Soros
Net worth: $26 billion
Age: 85 Residence: Katonah, N.Y.
Hedge funder Soros is one of the pillars of the Democratic party, most recently having helped raise $24 million for Hillary Clinton in the first half of 2015; in June he donated $1 million to a PAC that supports Clinton. Soros began funding progressive programs in the U.S. in 1996, targeting drug legalization, immigration policy reform, and end-of life care programs. In 2004 he went on an apparent personal crusade against President George W. Bush, funneling $27 million to groups looking to remove him from office. Since then, he’s been the Right’s boogeyman, pushing for higher taxes and redistribution of wealth. In 2008, Soros backed Barack Obama for the presidency, but in 2012 his enthusiasm waned, noting Obama’s team seemed “exhausted” and that there wasn’t much difference between him and Romney. Soros also was a major backer of grassroots groups and on-the-ground activists in Ferguson, Missouri, as racial tensions led to violent clashes.
Sheldon Adelson
Net worth: $26 billion
Age: 82 Residence: Las Vegas
Adelson makes billions running Las Vegas Sands, the world’s largest casino company, and he uses that money to buy influence in the Republican Party. Nothing illustrates the GOP godfather’s reach better than the so-called Adelson Primary: In 2014 candidates such as Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Chris Christie flew to Vegas to meet with Adelson, detail their visions and, they hoped, receive his blessing and his money. Adelson reportedly talks monthly with 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney about how to get a mainstream conservative to prevail in the upcoming election. Adelson has so far been mum about his favorite candidate but has publicly given to Florida Senator Marco Rubio and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.
Anne Cox Chambers
Net worth: $18 billion
Age: 95 Residence: Atlanta
Some billionaires throw lavish fundraisers. Others, like Cox Chambers, do something else: Over the years she has gone door-to-door campaigning for Al Gore, John Kerry and Barack Obama. She’s a longtime friend of President Carter: when he was Georgia’s governor, the two were neighbors, exchanging pool use at one home for tennis court privileges at the other. When Carter made it to D.C., she headed to Belgium, becoming the U.S. ambassador. Her fortune comes from Cox Enterprises (see the Forbes story on her family’s company here).
Rupert Murdoch
Net worth: $11.6 billion
Age: 84 Residence: New York city
Murdoch controls one of the country’s most politically influential media groups, News Corp., known for expressing its conservative views via the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and Fox News. Murdoch himself has not been shy about his own stances on presidential politics. In a barrage of tweets the billionaire lambasted Trump for his views on immigration. “When is Donald Trump going to stop embarrassing his friends, let alone the whole country?” he tweeted in July. Soon after, he urged 3-time New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, with whom he had formed a pro-immigration coalition in 2010, to run for the presidency.
Richard Kinder
Net worth: $8.9 billion
Age: 70 Residence: Houston
Pipeline tycoon and his wife, Nancy, have donated $2 million to a PAC for Jeb Bush, clearly hoping the candidate will be as friendly to the oil and gas industry as his older brother was.
Charles Schwab
Net worth: $6.4 billion
Age: 78 Residence: Atherton, Calif.
Schwab has put dollars toward both the big conservative machines (the National Republican Senatorial and National Congressional committees) and individuals, like Arizona Senator John McCain and House Speaker John Boehner. For president, Jeb’s his man. The former Florida governor has received the bulk of Schwab’s largesse (some $1.5 million to a pro-Bush super PAC).
Kelcy Warren
Net worth: $5.5 billion
Age: 59 Residence: Dallas
Warren bet on the wrong political horse: In June he donated $6 million to former Texas governor Rick Perry’s PAC, Opportunity and Freedom. Perry pulled out of the race in September, and his PAC has announced it will look to return much of the money it raised.
David Green
Net worth: $5.4 billion
Age: 73 Residence: Oklahoma City
The Hobby Lobby founder took the White House all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to protest ObamaCare—and won. The court ruled, 5–4, that “closely held” companies with strong religious beliefs are exempt from the Affordable Care Act’s provision that mandates access to the morningafter pill.
Stanley Druckenmiller
Net worth: $4.4 billion
Age: 62 Residence: New York City
Stalwart Republican donor Druckenmiller is once again betting on his favorite candidate: Chris Christie, who he’s called a “once-in-a-generation leader.” Like a good money manager, though, he’s hedged his bets, putting some chips on Jeb Bush through his Right to Rise super PAC.
H. Ross Perot Sr.
Net worth: $4 billion
Age: 85 Residence: Dallas
In 1992 Perot reportedly spent $65 million of his own money on a presidential run, garnering 19% of the vote and, some say, pulling enough support away from George H.W. Bush to propel Bill Clinton into office. The billionaire political outsider might be the only man who truly knows how Donald Trump feels right now. (Back then Perot was campaigning to slow the flow of goods, not people, from Mexico.) But don’t expect him to give The Donald any advice; these days Perot stays out of the limelight.
Marc Benioff
Net worth: $3.8 billion
Age: 50 Residence: San Francisco
Benioff has been an increasingly influential donor. While he’s given to his share of Republicans, in recent years he’s tilted more to the left. He was recognized as a top wrangler for President Obama in 2011, hosting a fundraising dinner for him and reportedly raising more than $500,000 for the campaign. He and his wife, Lynne, were early backers of Hillary Clinton, donating $50,000 to the Ready for Hillary PAC in November 2013, but he has not openly given to her or any other presidential candidate so far this year. His biggest reported gift in 2015 is $33,400 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in June. He also gave $500,000 to former Arizona congresswoman Gabby Gifford’s gun-violence-prevention group in 2013.
Diane Hendricks
Net worth: $3.7 billion
Age: 68 Residence: Afton, Wis.
Hendricks donated $5 million to Unintimidated, a super PAC backing Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s presidential campaign. That is enough to make her the second-biggest political donor among The Forbes 400 this election cycle, based on transparent giving tracked by the Center for Responsive Politics, but it couldn’t save Walker, who dropped out of the race in late September.
Haim Saban
Net worth: $3.5 billion
Age: 70 Residence: Beverly Hills
Longtime pal of the Clintons, Saban and his wife, Cheryl, held a Hillary fundraiser at their home in the ultra-elite gated L.A. community of Beverly Park in May, then followed up with a $2 million donation to a Hillary super PAC.
John Catsimatidis
Net worth: $3.4 billion
Age: 67 Residence: New York city
Catsimatidis has settled on being a go-to GOP donor after losing the NYC mayoral Republican primary in 2013. He’s given widely: $70,000 to a Scott Walker super PAC, $50,000 to the Republican National Committee, and to N.J. Governor Chris Christie and Texas Senator Ted Cruz. He also remains friends with Trump and in early 2015 hosted a fundraiser for Florida Senator Marco Rubio at his Manhattan home. Does he plan to rekindle his own political dreams of running for mayor again? “I’m not ruling it out,” he told FORBES.
Ronald Lauder
Net worth: $3.4 billion
Age: 71 Residence: New York City
Son of cosmetics legend Estée Lauder hobnobs with some of the world’s most powerful leaders, dictators and even anti-Semites in his role as president of the World Jewish Congress. Lauder has been a staunch advocate for Jewish affairs; he testified before Congress following the Charlie Hebdo attack in January, citing rising anti-Semitism. He’s a former ambassador to Austria under President Ronald Reagan.
Bernard Marcus
Net worth: $3.3 billion
Age: 86 Residence: Atlanta
Marcus is a staunch conservatives. In 2012, for instance, while talking with radio host Sean Hannity, he predicted an Obama reelection would bring “despair.” Marcus is keen on seeing the GOP take back the White House. He’s been the third-most-prolific giver among The Forbes 400 in terms of number of gifts in 2015, making 67 contributions to Republican candidates and PACs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, including $1 million to Jeb Bush’s super PAC in January.
Mark Cuban
Net worth: $3 billion
Age: 57 Residence: Dallas
Cuban starring as the president of the U.S. in the movie Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! But acting aside, Cuban has in fact played with the idea of running for the real presidency. “If I ran as a Dem, I know I could beat Hillary,” he wrote in an e-mail to CNBC in September. “And if it was me versus Trump, I would crush him. No doubt.” Cuban hasn’t publicly given to any candidate this year.
John Arnold
Net worth: $2.9 billion
Age: 41 Residence: Houston
Arnold, the brilliant ex-hedge fund manager with a knack for spotting market inefficiencies, now devotes himself to finding similar flaws in public policymaking. So far he has given to several candidates in the 2016 election cycle, including Colorado Senator Michael Bennet, who, like Arnold, is a Democrat deeply concerned about government overspending. He helped start the Coalition for Public Safety, which has drawn together an unlikely group of allies— both the Koch brothers and the NAACP—to rethink the criminal justice system. Some of his money has also gone to pension reform, charter schools and efforts to reduce recidivism.
Howard Schultz
Net worth: $2.9 billion
Age: 62 Residence: Seattle
The Starbucks founder says he has no intention of running for president, despite powerful Democrats like fellow billionaire David Geffen (No. 70) urging him to. Schultz is already familiar with high-minded policy, experimenting with social programs at Starbucks (most notably offering a free college education to even part-time employees) and, with his wife, pledging $30 million in July to job training programs.
Kenneth Langone
Net worth: $2.8 billion
Age: 80 Residence: Sands Point, N.Y.
One of New Jersey Governor Christie’s biggest backers, Langone has donated $250,000 to Christie’s super PAC. He reportedly promised to get others to write a whole lot of checks. Langone, an investment banker and longtime GOP supporter of groups like the Republican National Committee and Karl Rove’s super pac, backed Ross Perot Sr.’s presidential bid in 1992.
A. Jerrold Perenchio
Net worth: $2.7 billion
Age: 84 Residence: Bel Air, Calif.
One of Carly Fiorina’s biggest supporters, the former Univision chairman has given more than $1.6 million to her super PAC and helped host a fundraiser for her in September following the second Republican debate. One of Perenchio’s advisors commented at the time that he was “very proud” of her and thought she’d won.
Sean Parker
Net worth: $2.5 billion
Age: 35 Residence: New York City
Parker, who made the bulk of his money as Facebook’s founding president, has been doling out cash to candidates in the past two elections. So far he hasn’t been as munificent for 2016—he and his wife, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, have given $25,800 to Democratic legislators and $2,600 to Rand Paul’s presidential campaign. In the 2014 midterms he ranked among the country’s 50 biggest spenders—giving to both Republicans and Democrats— and somewhat ironically, donating to super PACs trying to reduce money’s influence on politics.
Penny Pritzker
Net worth: $2.4 billion
Age: 56 Residence: Chicago
The Hyatt heiress has carefully positioned herself at the intersection of wealth and politics, becoming U.S. Commerce secretary in 2013 after working as a key Obama fundraiser. (She also donated $250,000 just to his second inauguration celebration.) As Commerce secretary she has focused on promoting startups, bolstering trade and investment, supporting advanced manufacturing and helping American companies export overseas.
Pat Stryker
Net worth: $2.3 billion
Age: 59 Residence: Fort Collins, Col0.
Stryker has given $750,000 to two pro-Hillary Clinton PACs. Last year she gave $500,000 to the Next Gen Climate Action PAC, which was started by former Forbes 400 member Tom Steyer and aims to make climate change a key political issue. She also gave $300,000 in 2014 to the Mayday PAC, a nonpartisan group started by Harvard Law School professor (and presidential candidate) Lawrence Lessig; its main goal is to elect Congress members who will pass campaign finance reform.
Stewart Rahr
Net worth: $2.2 billion
Age: 69 Residence: New York City
The Donald’s No. 1 fan started a Trump PAC in 2012 in anticipation of his pal’s run. More recently he was spotted sitting in the front row at Trump’s initial campaign rally inside Trump Tower. Rahr works in the Manhattan skyscraper, where in 2011 police detained him after he reportedly waved a gun at an elevator operator. He also lives in a Trump building.
Bill Haslam
Net worth: $2.1 billion
Age: 57 Residence: Knoxville, Tenn.
The Tennessee governor is America’s richest elected official. He was elected Knoxville mayor in 2003, then earned a key to the governor’s mansion in 2010 and won reelection in a landslide. Over the years Haslam has fended off inquiries about his personal finances, especially after his first executive order as governor eliminated the state requirement that he and his top officials disclose their annual incomes. A loyal party man, Haslam has so far donated to 11 different Republican senators but hasn’t disclosed any giving to presidential candidates.
Paul Singer
Net worth: $2.1 billion
Age: 70 Residence: New York city
Financier behind hedge fund Elliott Management is a GOP powerhouse. Over the past 24 years he has donated over $17 million to Republican candidates and causes. A self-proclaimed conservative libertarian, Singer deplores government intervention and backs free enterprise. He is nonetheless opposed to his party on social matters. Singer, whose son is gay, is one of the largest Republican supporters of gay rights causes. He has reportedly given at least $11 million to different gay rights groups and put up $1.7 million to found the American Unity PAC in 2012, which encourages GOP candidates to support same-sex marriage. In January he contributed another $1 million to that PAC. In April he donated to Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign.
Meg Whitman
Net worth: $2 billion
Age: 59 Residence: Atherton, Calif.
Whitman’s bid for California governor didn’t pan out in 2010—though she sank $144 million of her own fortune into the efforts—so she’s concentrating on financing other political dreams. She likes Christie for president, cochairing his campaign’s national finance team and donating $100,000 in June to a pro-Christie super PAC.
Marc Lasry
Net worth: $1.9 billion
Age: 55 Residence: New York City
Lasry is a key fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Moroccan-born Lasry, who came to the U.S. at age 7, was also a megadonor for President Obama and President Clinton, and employed the Clintons’ daughter, Chelsea, as an analyst from 2006 to 2009. Ironically it was a deal with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a Republican, that made news earlier this year. Walker approved $250 million in taxpayer funding for a new arena for the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, which Lasry and others bought in 2014.
Norman Braman
Net worth: $1.9 billion
Age: 83 Residence: Miami, Fla.
Braman has made headlines for giving big time to Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Rubio, it appears, is particularly dependant on Braman, who has said he will be donating a significant amount, around $10 million, to the campaign. Braman also reportedly subsidized Rubio’s job as a college instructor, hired him as a lawyer and Braman also continues to employ Rubio’s wife on a part-time basis through Braman’s family foundation. Records do not show any political gifts from Braman to Rubio this year.
Louis Bacon
Net worth: $1.8 billion
Age: 57 Residence: Oyster Bay, N.Y.
Hedge fund titan is a conservative focused on promoting environmental causes. He and former U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar founded America’s Conservation PAC 2 years ago to support environmentally friendly political candidates and elected officials. The PAC has also received donations from fellow billionaires Paul Tudor Jones and Pat Stryker. Bacon shelled out $1 million to a super PAC supporting Jeb Bush this year.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chloesorvino/2015/09/30/the-biggest-most-influential-political-donors-on-the-2015-forbes-400/#2715e4857a0b35e412f21898
