NYT lists: Who are Trump and Harris's biggest donors?

Campaigns continue to be organized for the US presidential election to be held in November.

The campaigns of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, along with super political action committees, have raised 1.3 billion dollars. This figure does not include money raised by dark money organizations that are active in the presidential race and do not disclose their donors. So, who are the people donating the most to these two names?

Trump's most important donors

Tim Mellon

There is no other donor who has spent more for Trump this election cycle than Timothy Mellon. He has donated more than 125 million dollars to Trump's campaign, and we are only in September. A reclusive businessman, Mellon suddenly entered the political donor scene. Despite having almost no relationship with Trump, he financed a large portion of MAGA Inc., a super PAC, and provided nearly half of the money raised in this cycle. Mellon is also a friend of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and became the largest disclosed donor of this period by investing 25 million dollars in a pro-Kennedy super PAC.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk's rise as a political donor has been one of the most unusual stories of the 2024 campaign. Musk, the owner of the social media platform X and CEO of Tesla, had never shown much interest in politics, and his own leanings were liberal. However, this year he decided to establish a super PAC with grand goals, such as spending up to 180 million dollars to transform the Republican Party's field organization program. It had a rocky start. But there is time. Musk has developed a new leadership, including a new personal assistant to help him make political decisions. Musk is at least someone Trump talks to and listens to: He listened to Musk's advice when choosing JD Vance as his vice-presidential running mate. Musk also appears to have gotten Trump to soften his hostility toward electric vehicles.

Miriam Adelson

A fervent supporter of Israel, Miriam Adelson decided earlier this year to break away from the rest of the Trump world and start her own super PAC. She plans to invest more than 100 million dollars into the group. Adelson received some criticism from Trump a few days after meeting with him at the Republican National Convention in July and drew Trump's ire for working with more traditional Republican operators. However, Trump later showered her with praise at an antisemitism-focused event where Adelson also spoke.

Dick and Liz Uihlein

Dick and Liz Uihlein, founders of the shipping company ULine, are among the loyal conservatives. They have long made significant donations to the anti-tax organization Club for Growth. For this reason, they were interested in Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's presidential campaign during the Republican primaries. However, they have returned to Trump's ranks. According to a source familiar with their discussions, this pair, like Adelson, met with Trump at the Republican National Convention.

Linda McMahon

Linda McMahon is a long-time friend of Trump and also a significant donor. During his presidency, Trump appointed her to head the Small Business Administration and had her speak at the Republican National Convention. On another night, she accompanied Trump in his box at the convention. Her power comes not only from her money but also from her role: She is one of the co-chairs of Trump's transition team, along with Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, another major Trump donor.

Harris's most important donors

There has been significant consolidation in the world of Democratic mega-donors since 2020. This is because there are a few new big players, such as Sam Bankman-Fried, who entered Democratic politics in 2022 and was convicted of fraud and related crimes in 2023. However, President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw from the race and the Democrats' quick support for Harris energized some female donors who were not particularly active in the Biden campaign but might be in the Harris campaign. Here are the most important people.

Reid Hoffman

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman has transformed himself into a relentless political creature since Trump's election in 2016, and at one point during the 2020 campaign, he told other donors that he would walk out of a board meeting if US politics required it. In addition to being one of the country's largest Democratic donors, Hoffman has emerged as a confidant for other wealthy Democrats in Silicon Valley who want to make political donations.

George and Alex Soros

George Soros has long been making donations to support Democrats. What is new is that there is another Soros who is donating: Soros's son, Alex. Alex Soros is equally interested in US politics as his father. Alex Soros is engaged to Huma Abedin, a long-time advisor to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Soros family tends to be among the old guard of Democratic big-money politics: Soros is a supporter of more established groups and likes to fund organizations that try to create change in the long term.

Michael Bloomberg

“Where is Mike?” is a question Democrats routinely ask at this time of year. Entrepreneur and former New York mayor Bloomberg has a cold relationship with Biden. He has not yet invested as much in the 2024 presidential election as he usually does. However, he tends to be a late donor and usually funds a final effort that is not clear until the summer.

Dustin Moskovitz

Dustin Moskovitz may be the only person on this list who has not yet made a significant donation to support Harris. However, Moskovitz, the largest donor in the philanthropic movement, is expected to write a large check in the final months of this race to the Democratic group Future Forward, to which he donated tens of millions of dollars in 2020. Although Moskovitz, one of the founders of Facebook, is not well known outside of Silicon Valley, he has a team of political consultants who have significant influence in donor circles. In recent months, Moskovitz has become one of the leading anti-Musk voices in Silicon Valley and has expressed his concern about some people in the tech community shifting to the right.

Jeffrey Katzenberg

Former Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg is not as wealthy as the others on this list, but his influence comes from his access to Harris's campaign. An extraordinary political fundraiser in Hollywood for decades, Katzenberg became one of Biden's national campaign co-chairs and remained in that role with Harris now at the head of the campaign.