Billionaires Loved Kamala Harris For 2020. How Many Are Backing Her For 2024?

Forbes

Kamala Harris needs lots of cash. Luckily for her, she has a history of finding it. Since launching her campaign 108 days before the election, she raised $200 million in her first week atop the ticket to help close the $32 million gap between outgoing president Joe Biden’s campaign and Donald Trump’s war chest.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacheverson/2024/07/28/kamala-harris-billionaires-presidential-campaign-contributions-donations-cash/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, billionaires loved Kamala Harris for 2020.

00:05How many are backing her for 2024?

00:09Now the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Kamala Harris needs lots of cash.

00:14Luckily for her, she has a history of finding it.

00:18Since launching her campaign 108 days before the election,

00:22she raised $200 million in her first week atop the ticket

00:26to help close the $32 million gap between outgoing President Joe Biden's campaign

00:32and Donald Trump's war chest.

00:34And Harris has grabbed support from the likes of such billionaires as

00:37Melinda French Gates, Sheryl Sandberg, and Reed Hastings.

00:42There's likely plenty more where that came from.

00:44In the early days of the 2020 election, when she last ran for president,

00:48more billionaires and their spouses donated to Harris than to any other candidate.

00:54Through September 2019, 47 billionaires and their spouses

00:58had donated to Harris's fledgling presidential campaign,

01:01according to a Forbes analysis of Federal Election Commission records.

01:05Next best at the time was her fellow Senate Democrat, Cory Booker,

01:09who had pulled in donations from 45 members of the Three Comma Club.

01:14Meanwhile, by that point, 44 billionaires or their spouses

01:18had donated to the eventual winner, Joe Biden.

01:23While past performance is no guarantee of future results,

01:26the vice president's campaign could enjoy a substantial cash boost

01:30should these billionaires come back to her in 2024.

01:34Three of Harris's 2020 billionaire donors have passed away since the last election.

01:39Of the remaining 44, 26, or 60 percent,

01:43had donated to Biden's reelection as of May 30th,

01:47about two months before he dropped out of the race

01:49and Harris took over the top of the ticket and its pile of campaign cash.

01:54The Trump campaign has filed a complaint with the FEC

01:57over Biden turning over his campaign funds to Harris,

02:00although experts say the transfer is legal

02:02because her name was jointly listed on the filings for the Biden-Harris campaign committee.

02:07And the complaint is unlikely to be resolved until long after the election.

02:12All but one of the 26 donors who had contributed to Biden's reelection

02:16have maxed out already for this election,

02:18giving as much as the law allows an individual to donate to a presidential campaign,

02:23$3,300 for the primary and $3,300 for the general election.

02:28In all, their donations total $162,000.

02:33Notable 2020 Harris backers who donated to Biden's reelection effort

02:37include LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman,

02:40who also funneled an additional $7 million to a pro-Biden PAC this spring,

02:45director Steven Spielberg,

02:47and businesswoman and philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs,

02:50who inherited much of her wealth from her late husband Steve Jobs.

02:54Susan Pritzker, the wife of Hyatt Hotels heir Nicholas Pritzker II,

02:59meanwhile, only gave $3,300 to Biden,

03:02meaning she can still chip in another $3,300 for Harris.

03:07And then there are the 18 billionaires and their spouses who donated to Harris for 2020,

03:12but did not contribute to Biden's reelection.

03:14If they were to all come back into the Harris camp and max out with $6,600 contributions,

03:19that would put another $125,000 into Harris's coffers.

03:24Director George Lucas and Craigslist founder Craig Newmark

03:28are among the big names who contributed to Harris before switching to Biden in 2020,

03:33but did not donate to Biden in 2024.

03:36Of course, the real financial benefit these billionaires can bestow on Harris's candidacy

03:41doesn't come via contributions to the campaign,

03:44but rather through donations to other political groups working on her behalf.

03:48Individuals can donate $5,000 to PACs,

03:52$41,300 to the Democratic National Committee,

03:55and an unlimited amount to super PACs.

03:58For example, Reed Hastings already put in $7 million,

04:02and Reed Hoffman told CNN he was, quote,

04:05redoubling his efforts, having already donated $7 million to a pro-Biden PAC.

04:11There are more than a dozen other billionaires and their spouses

04:14who Harris might be able to tap for more campaign cash.

04:17A few of the wealthy moguls who gave to Harris's 2020 campaign,

04:21but did not contribute to Biden's 2024 re-election,

04:24include John Fisher, Robert F. Smith, Gordon Getty, and C. Dean Metropolis.

04:31For full coverage and to see the whole list,

04:34check out Zach Everson's piece on Forbes.com.

04:38This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:41Thanks for tuning in.

04:44♪♪

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