Who Funds America’s Biggest Political Campaigns?

If you thought that American democracy was actually free, you couldn’t be further from the truth. The 2024 election and Republican campaigns proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that we live in an oligarchy with the top 50 political donors paying more than $2.5 billion to buy their way into our government. So far, they have been successful.

Most of the money spent in our national elections come from Republican groups and conservative organizations. But who are the biggest contributors to our political campaigns? Who really controls our government and our elected representatives? Because it’s not us regular people. We looked at the data (as reliable as it can be) and ranked the biggest donors to political campaigns during the 2024 election. Here they are in order.

Why Is There So Much Money in American Elections?

Ever since the 2010 Supreme Court case Citizens United v. FEC, the government has not been allowed to limit or restrict how much money companies and corporations can spend on or in our political system. As a result, corporate finance laws that existed at the time were essentially destroyed, paving the way for the richest companies to buy their politicians for any price.

In the aftermath of the court case, critics and scientists predicted a “new era of corporate influence in politics”, and a handful of billionaires quickly jumped at the opportunity to prove them right.

Experts and political scientist have concluded that the court case has overwhelmingly benefitted the Republican party and its candidates, with one study by the University of Chicago, London School of Economics, and Columbia University concluding that it tipped the scales in Republicans’ favor by over five percentage points. Other studies measured the impact as high as 10% in some states.

All studies agree that the massive increase in Republican electoral power is due to the “significant spending by corporations”.  

#20 Dustin Moskovitz

• Total Donations: $38.9 million
• Supports: Democrats

Dustin was a co-founder of Facebook and has since become a billionaire. He only donated to the campaign for Kamala Harris.

#19 Stephen and Christine Schwarzman

• Total Donations: $40 million
• Supports: Republicans

Steven is the CEO of infamous private equity firm, Blackstone, a company that has its fingers in nearly every industry around the world and is primarily responsible for many of the financial hardships faced by regular Americans, including rent increases, housing prices, grocery prices, and more.

Stephen donated to the campaigns for Mike Rogers, Tim Sheehy, and other Republican Senate candidates.

#18 House Majority Forward

• Total Donations: $43.5 million
• Supports: Democrats

This group supports House Democrats and primarily donated to the campaigns of Democratic House candidates. It also donated to the Democratic National Convention.

#17 Koch Industries

• Total Donations: $43.5 million
• Supports: Republicans

Koch Industries is an industrial and corporate conglomerate owned by the billionaire Koch brothers. Charles Koch is the chairman of Koch Industries.

Koch Industries donated to Republican House and Senate candidates and primarily their own conservative super PAC Americans for Prosperity Action Inc.

#16 Michael Bloomberg

• Total Donations: $47.4 million
• Supports: Democrats

Michael is the founder of the software and media company Bloomberg and former mayor of New York City.

Michael’s donated to the Kamala Harris presidential campaign, Democratic House candidates, and a PAC that supports pro-gun-control candidates.

#15 All Capital Management

• Total Donations: $49.8 million
• Supports: Primarily Republicans, Democrats

All Capital Management is a venture capital firm with significant investments in cryptocurrency and supported super PACs for Republicans and Democrats that promise to support the cryptocurrency industry. They publicly endorsed Trump.

#14 Ripple Labs

• Total Donations: $51 million
• Supports: Republicans and Democrats

Ripple Labs is a tech company in the cryptocurrency industry.

Ripple Labs contributed to super PACs on both sides of the political spectrum that support deregulating cryptocurrency and support the crypto industry.

#13 One Nation

• Total Donations: $53.6 million
• Supports: Republicans

One Nation is a nonprofit that exists to fund the campaigns of Republican candidates. It only donated to the Senate Leadership Fund that supports Republican Senate candidates around the country.

#12 Fund for Policy Reform

• Total Donations: $60 million
• Supports: Democrats

Fund for Policy Reform only donated to Democracy PAC, a super PAC funded by George Soros that supports liberal causes.

#11 Paul Singer

• Total Donations: $63.4 million
• Supports: Republicans

Paul is the co-CEO and founder of Elliott Management.

Paul’s biggest donations were to the Donald Trump presidential campaign and Republican congressional candidates.

#10 Empower Parents PAC

• Total Donations: $82.5 million
• Supports: Republicans

Empower Parents used to be known as “Friends of Ron DeSantis” and even though its name has changed, its goals have not.

All of Empower Parents’ contributions went to Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign.

#9 Coinbase

• Total Donations: $93.6 million
• Supports: Democrats and Republicans

Coinbase has primarily donated to pro-crypto super PACs that support both Republicans and Democrats. It is only aligned with the candidates that promise to relax crypto regulation.

#8 Jeff and Janine Yass

• Total Donations: $96.2 million
• Support: Republicans

Jeff founded the Susquehanna International Group investment company and Janine founded a charter school with her husband’s money and is an avid advocate of school choice.

Jeff and Janine’s biggest contributions were to a conservative super PAC funded by Jeff’s own company, Republican House candidates, and other conservative super PACs.

#7 Kenneth Griffin

• Total Donations: $103.7 million
• Supports: Republicans

Kenneth founded the Citadel hedge fund and is its current CEO.

Kenneth’s biggest contributions were to Republican congressional candidates and the campaign for Dave McCormick.

#6 Majority Forward

• Total Donations: $113.2 million
• Supports: Democrats

Majority Forward’s biggest donations were to the campaigns for Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown and other Democratic Senate candidates.

#5 Elon Musk

• Total Donations: $132.2 million
• Supports: Republicans

The famous son of apartheid and inheritor of his father’s emerald mine fortune.

Elon’s biggest donations were to Donald Trump and Republican congressional candidates. Of course, this does not include any non-financial help he gave the campaigns through his social media platform X (Twitter).

#4 Miriam Adelson

• Total Donations: $136 million
• Supports: Republicans

Miriam inherited her wealth from her late husband and is now the majority shareholder of the Las Vegas Sands.

Miriam’s biggest donations were to Donald Trump’s campaign, and Republican House and Senate candidates.

#3 Future Forward USA Action

• Total Donations: $138.5 million
• Supports: Democrats

Future Forward’s largest donations were to the Kamala Harris campaign and the Democratic National Convention.

#2 Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein

• Total Donations: $139 million
• Supports: Republicans

The Uihlein’s biggest donations were to Restoration PAC, which opposed the Tammy Baldwin campaign, a right-leaning super PAC Club For Growth Action, and Donald Trump’s campaign. According to their own statements, they donate money to causes outside the mainstream Republican party hoping to push it further to the political right.

#1 Timothy Mellon

• Total Donations: $197 million
• Supports: Republicans

Timothy Mellon’s largest donations were to Donald Trump’s campaign and Robert Kennedy Jr.’s campaign, along with Republican House candidates.

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