During the second presidential debate last week, President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden argued (among many things) over who was more embedded in Wall Street. Biden accused Trump, based on
a New York Times report that members of the administration briefed the Hoover Institute’s financier-heavy board at the end of February on how dangerous the coronavirus could be, of giving Wall Street a heads up while publicly downplaying the virus. Trump shot back with his own accusation.
“You're the one that takes all the money from Wall Street,” Trump said in response. “I don't take it.”
Not accurate. Two of Trump’s five richest donors run financial firms. Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, who has a net worth of $17.8 billion, has donated $699,000 since 2017 to Trump Victory, which is the joint fundraising group between the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign, and another $3 million to America First, a pro-Trump super-PAC, in January. Thomas Peterffy, the CEO of Interactive Brokers who is worth $16.5 billion, was an early donor to Trump’s re-election effort, contributing $250,000 to Trump Victory in 2017. The president also counts venture capitalist Douglas Leone
, investment banker Warren Stephens and money manager Ken Fisher among his
backers in the financial industry.
Trump’s richest donor is casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who has a net worth of more than $31 billion. Republican megadonors, Adelson and his wife, Miriam, have spent more than $180 million on federal races this election cycle. They each contributed $580,600 to Trump Victory in February and together
gave another $75 million to Preserve America, a pro-Trump super-PAC that popped up in August.
Although tech billionaire donors skew overwhelmingly Democratic, David Duffield, who amassed a $12.4 billion fortune cofounding business software companies PeopleSoft and Workday, is backing Trump. Duffield is not normally a big political giver, but
in August he and his wife Cheryl contributed a combined $1.2 million to Trump Victory.
While Trump may struggle in the polls with female voters, America’s
richest self-made woman is on board. Diane Hendricks, who cofounded and chairs roofing company ABC Supply and has a net worth of $8 billion, gave nearly $6 million to committees and super-PACs supporting Trump this cycle. Gail Golden-Icahn, who is married to Carl Icahn, the billionaire investor that
Forbes estimates is worth $14 billion, also gave $2,800 to a committee supporting Trump. However, this year
Forbes has not found any contributions made by her husband, who served as an advisor to Trump early in his presidency.