Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg quietly donated $50 million to support Vice President Kamala Harris.
The donation, made to a nonprofit that supports the Democratic candidate, was first reported by the New York Times on Monday as Bloomberg has been much quieter this presidential election cycle than he was four years ago.
In 2020 he ran in the Democratic primary, but after an embarrassing debate performance in Nevada and winning only American Samoa, he dropped out and endorsed President Joe Biden.
He also funneled hundreds of millions into Biden’s campaign, announcing in mid-September 2020 that he would put $100 million of his own money into helping Biden take back Florida, which did not happen.
This year, according to the Times, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman and investor Ron Conway begged Bloomberg to pony up cash before it was too late.
Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg Quietly Donated $50 Million
Bloomberg had a private phone conversation with Harris recently, the newspaper also said.
The billionaire businessman and former New York City mayor has always shied away from making early campaign investments.
Instead, he has tried to fill in the gaps late in the game.
But this year’s donation arrived recently, and Election Day is just eight days away.
The donation went to Future Forward USA Action, the dark money group associated with Harris’ main super PAC, Future Forward.
Bloomberg, 82, has an estimated net worth of $105 billion.
Before the new $50 million donation, Bloomberg was the second-largest donor this cycle after liberal billionaire George Soros, donating $47 million to Democrats.
The New York Times reported that Michael Bloomberg (left) was scarred by his 2020 presidential bid, where he was humiliated on stage by Senator Elizabeth Warren (third from left).
But that pales in comparison to the $95 million he donated to Democrats in 2018 as they tried to take back Congress in the middle of Trump’s presidency.
In total, during the Trump era, Bloomberg donated more than $250 million in the 2018 and 2020 campaign cycles.
In his own management, he spent $1.1 billion.
He spent an additional $173 million to get Biden and other Democrats across the line.
That’s $126 million more than Bloomberg has spent this cycle, even though Trump is once again the Republican nominee.
Bloomberg’s spending was unusual in 2020, some sources argued, because he was a presidential candidate, although The Times reported that he also found his career to have “scars.”
He was angry that his fellow New Yorker, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, did not endorse him.
And the newspaper said Bloomberg’s relationship with President Joe Biden has been “frosty.”
He expressed concern about Harris’ abilities, although he appears to have warmed to her, The Times said, speaking positively about the vice president to business executive Ken Chenault in Sag Harbor around the time of the Democratic National Convention in August.