Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is seeking a second term this November as a springboard to run for president in 2024, is backed financially by some of the wealthiest private donors in the United States.
According to an analysis published by correspondent Zac Anderson in Wednesday's Herald Tribune, "dozens of billionaires and billionaire family members with a net worth of $275 billion have donated to DeSantis' reelection effort, a level of billionaire support one expert called 'extraordinary.'"
Anderson revealed that 42 individuals with net worths of 10-plus digits – or three commas – have invested at least $12.45 million of their cash in DeSantis, who has championed extreme right-wing policies in the Sunshine State and seeks to take his crusade nationwide.
The figures are staggering, per Anderson's reporting:
Total billionaire donors: At least 42
Total contributions from billionaires: At least $12.5 million
State with most DeSantis billionaire contributions: Florida at 12, followed by New York with six, and Texas with five
Billionaire donor with highest net worth: Julia Koch and family at $62.2 billion
Billionaire donor who gave the most: Ken Griffin at $5 million
Billionaire donor who gave the least: Stanley Hubbard at $10,000
Number of billionaires who have given DeSantis at least six figures: 25
Number of states with billionaire DeSantis donors: 15
Other notable names pumping DeSantis full of campaign sugar include:
- Publix supermarket heiress and financier of the January 6th, 2021 Capitol insurrection Julie Jenkins Fancelli (family net worth $8.8 billion)
- Former President Donald Trump's Secretary of Education and Amway heiress Betsy DeVos as well as three of her kin (family net worth $5.4 billion)
- Ex-San Francisco 49ers owner, real estate mogul, and Trump-pardoned Louisiana gambling bribe recipient Edward DeBartolo Jr. (family net worth $2.5 billion).
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