Pro-Trump Billionaires in the 2024 Presidential Race

As the 2024 US presidential election looms, the financial backers of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump provide insight into their competing visions for America. This article presents an analysis of the financial elites supporting Donald Trump, exploring the motivations and sectors that shape these endorsements.

The financial elites behind Donald Trump’s campaign

Donald Trump has secured significant financial backing for his 2024 presidential bid, drawing from 26 billionaires who have collectively contributed over $162 million. 

Key industries backing Trump

Three industries dominate Trump’s billionaire backing: casinos, finance, and oil & gas. 

• Casino industry. Trump’s long-standing relationship with the casino industry is evident in the financial support he receives from key players like Miriam Adelson (Las Vegas Sands), Phil Ruffin (Trump International Hotel), and Steve Wynn. 
• Finance. Trump enjoys strong support from financial elites like Andrew Beal (Beal Bank), Jeff Sprecher (Intercontinental Exchange), and J. Joe Ricketts (TD Ameritrade). These billionaires see Trump’s tax cuts and rollback of financial regulations as essential to sustaining their business models, particularly in terms of market growth and profitability.
• Oil & gas. Trump’s deregulation and energy independence agenda have made him a favorite among oil and gas billionaires like Kelcy Warren, George Bishop, and Timothy Dunn. Their support for Trump ensures policies that favor the expansion of fossil fuels and reduce regulatory burdens on their industry.

Other key supporting sectors of the republican candidate are manufacturing, with Diane Hendricks (ABC Supply) and Liz & Dick Uihlein (Uline) aligning with Trump’s protectionist measures designed to shield American manufacturing from global competition, and real estate (Hendricks and Geoffrey Palmer).

Moreover, railroad industry magnates, like Timothy Mellon, for example, contributed over $76.5 million to pro-Trump PACs, reflecting his interest in infrastructure policies favorable to American business. In the entertainment industry, Linda McMahon (WWE) and her husband, Vince McMahon, have also long supported Trump, also because of his past in the WWE.

Elon Musk and crypto billionaires 

Interestingly, Trump’s support extends into the tech and cryptocurrency sectors, with Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Gemini exchange) each contributing $1.3 million. This reflects the growing alignment between Trump’s deregulatory stance and the emerging cryptocurrency space, which favors minimal government oversight.

Perhaps, the most important Trump supporter is Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX, xAI). 

Elon Musk’s heavy personal investment in Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign stems from both business and ideological concerns. Musk fears that if Trump loses, a Kamala Harris-led administration would lead to increased regulation and legal scrutiny of his companies, particularly X (formerly Twitter) and Starlink. He bluntly stated, “If Trump loses, I’m f**ked”, expressing his belief that a Democratic victory could target his businesses and potentially lead to personal consequences, including imprisonment.

Musk also aligns ideologically with Trump on issues like immigration, free speech, and the role of religion in society. Additionally, Musk shares concerns about broader societal issues like declining birth rates and rising crime, which he connects to progressive policies. 

His support for Trump reflects both his personal stakes and his belief in a more conservative, business-friendly political future.

The strive for the power of emerging US elites

Trump’s backers favor policies that reduce government intervention in markets and promote American-owned businesses.

Almost all of Trump’s high-ranking supporters represent a new, “emerging” financial elite, which has built its wealth upon real sectors of the economy and feels underrepresented in a system completely under the control of the “Big Tech” and the “Big Three”, both of which are heavily pro-democratic institutions.

Through Trump’s elections, his funders aim to solidify a business-friendly, deregulated environment, in hopes of acquiring long-awaited representation and power in the upper echelons of society.

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