Florida Governor-elect Ron DeSantis listens to President Donald J. Trump speak during a meeting with governors-elect in the Cabinet Room of the White House Thursday, December 13, 2018 in Washington, DC.
Jabin Botsford | The Washington Post | fake images
A wave of executives in the financial sector made early donations Donald Trump’s main opponents in the second quarter, as many on Wall Street seek an alternative to the former president to lead the Republican Party in 2024.
New filings from the Federal Election Commission show that dozens of Wall Street executives donated the legal maximum of $3,300 for the primaries or $6,600 for the entire election cycle to many of the Republican candidates who voted below Trump in the primaries, according to a report. joint analysis of the latest disclosures from NBC News and CNBC.
Trump’s main rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and other candidates who regularly register in the national polling averages: businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott, RS.C. all saw contributions from finance leaders from April 1 to June 30.
For Wall Street and the broader financial community, it’s a continuation of the anti-Trump trend that saw just over $74 million from Wall Street leaders go to support Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race. Trump saw just over $18 million from the industry in his losing run of 2020.
This is the position of Trump’s rivals on Wall Street.
ron desantis
The Florida governor has received at least 15 notable contributions from leaders in finance, including veteran hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones, who donated $6,600 to DeSantis’s campaign, and the check cashed in May, according to a filing with the FEC. Many of DeSantis’ top contributions from financial sector executives were collected in May, when he announced his run for president, records show.
Data from the nonpartisan OpenSecrets shows that Jones has contributed to a variety of campaigns and outside groups involved in previous presidential elections.
In 2011, Jones donated $200,000 to Restore Our Future, a super PAC that supported Mitt Romney’s run for president against then-President Barack Obama. Jones later in 2015 contributed to PACs that supported former Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s failed presidential bid and another group that endorsed former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s failed campaign in that same cycle.
Christie, who is again running for president against Trump this cycle, also received $6,600 from Jones in the second quarter, according to his campaign finance disclosure. A spokesperson for Jones did not respond to a request for comment. Forbes estimates his net worth in excess of $7 billion.
Venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale donated at least $3,300 to DeSantis in the second quarter, according to the documents. Lonsdale had previously said that he would back the governor of Florida.
Justin Siegel, a vice president at Goldman Sachs, also gave DeSantis at least $3,300, with the check cleared in late June, according to the filing.
Lonsdale could not be reached for comment. A Goldman spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
DeSantis’ campaign ended the second quarter with $20 million raised.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Even as Ramaswamy attacked Wall Street firms that have environmental, social and governance investment strategies, he received at least a dozen contributions from financial sector leaders.
Bill Ackman, CEO of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital, chipped in $3,300 during the early stages of the quarter, according to the documents. The CEO of Pershing Square has raved about Ramaswamy on Twitter, and Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Ackman has helped fund Strive, the anti-ESG firm founded by Ramaswamy.
Ed Hyman, president of Evercore ISI, also donated $3,300 to Ramaswamy in the second quarter, the filing says.
Investor Glenn Dubin and his wife Eva recently donated $6,600 each to Ramaswamy’s presidential bid. Both have reported links to disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein. Dubin has an estimated net worth of just over $2 billion, according to Forbes.
A call to Dubin & Co., the private investment firm founded by Glenn Dubin, was not returned before publication.
Ramaswamy’s campaign ended the second quarter having raised more than $7 million, the majority of which was self-funded.
nikki haley
The former US ambassador to the United Nations had her own success raising money from Wall Street.
She also garnered a dozen top executive contributions in finance, including a contribution from Cliff Asness, the co-founder of AQR Capital Management, according to records. Asness has a net worth of $1.6 billion, according to Forbes.
Another financial leader who became Haley’s main donor is Tim Draper, a longtime venture capitalist.
Asness and Draper did not respond to requests for comment.
Haley finished raising over $5 million in the second quarter.
