18 new york | august 19–september 1, 2019
it’s a weird timeto be
a liberal billionaire. Almost all of
the Democratic presidential
candidates have sworn off help
from super-PACs and made
a big show of rejecting cash from
a wide range of potential donors:
lobbyists, corporate PACs, andpharma execs included. Bernie
Sanders and Elizabeth Warren
have ruled out headlining closed-
door fund-raisers altogether.
But that doesn’t mean the
moguls of the left aren’t watching
the race closely. Some rich
progressives are looking at waysto sway the primaries, and others
are biding their time until a
nominee emerges. Still, while
Hillary Clinton had decades-long
relationships with some of the
party’s biggest contributors
last time around—like investor
Haim Saban, who has sent
Democrats tens of millions of
dollars over the years and stayed
in close touch with Clinton
throughout her campaign—few
of today’s candidates have
those friendships. And the donor
pool has changed since 2016
with the arrival of a handful of
tycoons who have woken up
to politics in the Trump era, like
Facebook co-founder Dustin
Moskovitz (see below), and with
the departure of others, like J.B.Pritzker of the Hyatt-hotel family,
who’s no longer a megadonor
because he got a new job (as the
governor of Illinois). While none
of the available contributors
have shown a willingness to go
full Sheldon Adelson (who has
given $300 million-plus in
donations to Republican candi-
dates and groups in federal
elections since 2012, according to
Center for Responsive Politics’
analyses of Federal Election
Commission data) or Koch broth-
ers (with their own sprawling
political empire), here are the ones
who could have the most sway
over the coming year in both the
primaries and the general election,
according to campaign veterans
and a review of donation records.intelligencer
Ætheformermayormade no secret of his desire to run in 2020, but he let reality win
and has instead been making noise about spendinghalf a billion dollarson a wide-ranging
political machine dedicated to booting Trump. The onetime Republican and independent has
plowed at least $160 million into Democratic groups and candidates since 2012. He seems
unlikely to spend on the primaries, but he’sknown to like Joe Bidenandtohavedeepsuspi-
cions about Sanders and Warren.Speaking in Iowa earlier this month at a forum organized
by the gun-reform groups he funds, he joked about Warren’s anti-corporate message: “Just to
remind you, if my company hadn’t been successful, we wouldn’t be here today.”Michael
Bloomberg
Wanted to run for president,
settled for being the
party’s most influential
outside force instead.1
NO.Ænosuper-donorhas been more of a thorn in the party Establishment’s side than Steyer
since he started throwing money into Democratic politics ahead of the 2014 midterms. He has
spent more on the left since then—at least $240 millionthrough last year—than anyone else,
but a huge portion of that has gone to his own political groups. Now he has decided to run for
president after initially passing on a campaign earlier this year. Other Democrats aren’t expect-
ing him to get too far, and they’ll be holding out their hands for the former hedge-funder’s
remaining cash as soon as he bows out. Still, the candidate he’s had themost positive things
to say about, Warren, has criticized the billionaire’s presence in the race.TomSteyer
Wanted to be the party’s
most influential outside
force, settled for running
for president instead.2
NO.Æsoros gives democratsand left-leaning organizations a lot of money—over $
millionto federal candidates and groups since 2015 alone—but he’s not just in demand
because of his wallet. A longtime bogeyman on the right who was targeted by Trumpist
Cesar Sayoc’s pipe bombs in 2018, Soros is an influential voice on the global stage whose
word is followed closely by other wealthy Democratic donors looking for cues on where
to invest. And he has never been afraid to speak his mind about candidates—he soured
on Obama during his first term, and he hascriticized Kirsten Gillibrandfor her stand
against Al Franken.GeorgeSoros
The left’s most
prominent benefactor.
3NO.Æalmostnoonein Democratic politics knew Moskovitz until 2016, when, horrified by
Trump, he opened his checkbook. The longtime entrepreneur and philanthropist and his
wife, Cari Tuna, donated over$30 millionto Democrats in 2016 and 2018 and more to
nonpartisan political groups focused on voter-registration pushes and the like. Candidates
and party leaders are increasingly wary of raking in too much money from tech leaders, like
Moskovitz’s former colleagues atop Facebook, but they view the 35-year-old as an exception
and one of their potential saviors.Dustin Moskovitz
One of the least-known
Facebook co-founders,
he has had a political
awakening in recent years.4
NO.Æyou don’t have any ideawho these guys are, do you? They’re mostly okay with that.
Sussman (a hedge-fund manager who gave Democrats around$74 millionfrom Obama’s
reelection through last year’s midterms), Eychaner (a Chicago media don,$75 million), and
Simons (a hedge-fund pioneer,$67 million) are hardly household names, and they’ve
shown little interest in becoming Steyer- or Bloomberg-style celebrities. (You may be more
familiar with Simons’s ex–co–chief executive Robert Mercer, one of Trump’s biggest boost-
ers.) But all three are at the top of practically every Dem fund-raiser’s wish list after doling
out huge amounts to both Obama and Clinton.Donald Sussman,
Fred Eychaner,
and Jim Simons
Three low-profile magnates
who give more to Dems
than almost anyone else.5
NO.Æklarman is in a somewhatdifferent category. The Boston hedge-fund guru doesn’t
story of writing showstopping checks, but after years of donating to Repub-
l ted giving lots to Democrats following Trump’s election. He gavenearly
$ 2018 alone. For Dem candidates eager to stick it to Trump or to prove they
can reach out to former Republicans, Klarman’s support could prove invaluable. Not that
he’s your average swing voter, of course.SethKlarman
The onetime GOP
megadonor offers Dems
moderate cred, if they’re
into that kind of thing. PHOTOGRAPHS: BLOOMBERG PHILANTHROPIES/WIKIMEDIA (BLOOMBERG); TOM STEYER/FACEBOOK (STEYER); PATRICK MCMULLAN (SOROS); DUSTIN MOSKOVITZ/WIKIMEDIA (MOSKOVITZ); STEVENS CLARKE/WIKIMEDIA (SUSSMAN); TED TALK (SIMONS); CNBC/YOUTUBE (KLARMAN)Ranking:
The Most Influential
Democratic Donors
Whose money are the 2020 hopefuls
gunning for?
By Gabriel DebenedettiWILD
CAD