'War of Money' US Super PAC... 50 'Big Donors' Donate 2 Trillion Won

Mostly Republican-biased, No.1 is Railroad Tycoon
Cryptocurrency Exchanges Donate to Both Parties

The upcoming U.S. elections in November are not just a battle among the politicians running as candidates. There is also a "money war" among the "big players"?from railroad and shipping tycoons to Wall Street hedge fund managers and cryptocurrency exchanges?who inject funds into candidates and parties to assert their political will.

On the 26th (local time), The Washington Post (WP) compiled a list of the top 50 donors who contributed the most political funds to various elections scheduled for November, based on data from the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC).

The total amount these donors contributed to politicians running in the presidential, Senate, and House elections this November is $1.5 billion (approximately 2 trillion KRW), with most of the money flowing into super PACs (political action committees). U.S. federal law prohibits donors from giving money directly to a specific party or individual candidate, but there is no limit on donations made through super PACs. This is why the U.S. presidential election is often described as a "money war."

According to WP's analysis, the big donors tend to contribute more to the Republican Party than to the Democratic Party. Among the top 50 donors (including individuals and organizations), 26 donated exclusively to the Republican side, surpassing the 18 donors who supported the Democrats. Four donors funded both parties, and two opened their wallets to third parties.

The individual who donated the most in a personal capacity is Timothy Mellon, a railroad tycoon and grandson of former U.S. Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon. Based in Wyoming, he donated a total of $165 million to Republican-leaning organizations. Of this, $125 million went to the "Make America Great Again (MAGA)" super PAC supporting former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate. He also reportedly contributed $25 million to the Robert Kennedy Jr. campaign, who recently withdrew from the presidential race and declared support for Trump.

Second place goes to Kenneth Griffin, founder and CEO of the hedge fund Citadel, who donated $75.7 million to the Republican side. Following him were Jeff and Janine Yass, active in finance and education, in third place, and Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, who amassed wealth in the shipping business, in fourth place. All of them supported the Republican Party.

The individual who donated the most to the Democratic Party is Michael Bloomberg, founder of the financial information and media company Bloomberg and former mayor of New York City. He donated a total of $41 million to Democratic groups, including PACs supporting Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate. While he ranks fifth as an individual donor, he falls to around 12th place when including corporate and organizational donors.

Among corporations and organizations, the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase poured in the most, contributing $91.1 million. Of this, $86 million flowed into the super PAC "Fair Shake," which advocates for the cryptocurrency industry. Coinbase and other cryptocurrency exchanges tended to fund groups favorable to the cryptocurrency industry rather than giving money directly to specific party candidates.

The second-largest donor organization is a Florida-based PAC named "Empower Parents," which contributed $82.5 million to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who eventually withdrew from the Republican presidential primary after challenging former President Trump. Following this were billionaire George Soros's nonprofit organizations, the "Political Reform Fund" and "Future Forward America Action," which donated $60 million and $55.9 million respectively to Democratic and Vice President Harris-supporting PACs.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.