These Billionaire Donors Spent The Most Money On The 2020 Election

Plus: These Billionaire Donors Spent The Most Money On The 2020 Election

Twenty billionaires spent a collective $2.3 billion on the 2020 election, more than twice as much as Joe Biden’s entire campaign. Plenty of others chipped in as well. In a new series, Michela Tindera explains how Joe Biden got more support from billionaires than Donald Trump. Her reporting identifies, for the first time ever, all of the billionaires who gave to Biden and to Trump. She also assembled a list of the biggest spenders, which includes many names you’ll know (like Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer) as well some you may not (like Patrick Ryan and Stephen Mandel).

Dan Alexander

Senior Editor, Money & Politics

Deniz Çam

Reporter, Wealth

Christian Kreznar

Assistant Editor

These Billionaire Donors Spent The Most Money On The 2020 Election

They collectively shelled out $2.3 billion, more than twice as much as Joe Biden’s entire campaign.

Follow The Money →

Following The Money

Ted Cruz cut short his impromptu vacation to Cancun last week after family friends and fellow travelers began leaking photos of the Texas senator to media outlets. Forbes estimated that Cruz and his wife were worth $3.5 million in 2016.

The blackouts in Texas may provide a wakeup call for the state’s energy infrastructure, particularly its dependence on natural gas. Investors should expect demand for temporary fixes like generators to spike in the short run, renewable energy and battery storage may be the biggest beneficiaries in the long term.

On Wednesday, 150 CEOs expressed support for Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus, including the heads of Visa, BlackRock, American Airlines and Google. In a letter, they argued the plan would be essential for a full economic recovery.

Cashing In On Contracts

Nearly 20 months after the Trump administration shut down its Carrizo Springs facility for unaccompanied migrant children, the Biden administration announced its reopening on February 22. The Office of Refugee Resettlement, a division of the Department of Health Services, signed an agreement with Texas-based nonprofit BCFS to run the shelter in 2021. A government spokesperson told Forbes that the cost of accommodating one child is about $775 per day. This is not the first time BCFS ran the Carrizo Springs facility. In 2019, it signed a $300 million deal with the government.