Bill Gates Donates $50 Million to Support Kamala Harris’ Presidential Campaign: ‘This Election Is Different’
Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and one of the wealthiest people in the world, donated $50 million toward VP Kamala Harris’s presidential election campaign against Donald Trump, according to a New York Times report.
Gates “has not publicly endorsed Ms. Harris” and his $50 million donation to a nonprofit Democratic-aligned political action committee was intended to remain private, per the NYT report. The tech billionaire made the donation to Future Forward, a Silicon Valley PAC that is supporting Harris, the Times reported, citing anonymous sources.
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Reps for Gates’ Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation charity did not respond to Variety‘s request for comment. Citing anonymous sources, the Times reported that the foundation “is significantly concerned about potential cuts to family planning and global health programs if Mr. Trump is elected.”
In a statement to the New York Times, Gates “did not explicitly address the donation or offer an endorsement of Ms. Harris in the race” but according to the report, he said “this election is different.”
“I support candidates who demonstrate a clear commitment to improving health care, reducing poverty and fighting climate change in the U.S. and around the world,” Gates said in the statement. “I have a long history of working with leaders across the political spectrum, but this election is different, with unprecedented significance for Americans and the most vulnerable people around the world.”
Gates, 68, has a net worth estimated at $162 billion, which makes him the sixth-richest individual globally, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Other billionaires who have backed Harris include Netflix executive chairman Reed Hastings, who made a $7 million donation toward her election. Former New York City mayor and business titan Mike Bloomberg “has considered” making a “similarly sized” donation as Gates’ $50 million contribution to Future Forward, the New York Times reported.
Trump, meanwhile, has garnered the full-throated backing of Elon Musk, the tech tycoon who ranks at the world’s No. 1 wealthiest individual with a net worth of about $240 billion, per the Bloomberg index. Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X (formerly Twitter), donated about $75 million to America PAC, the pro-Trump group he helped form this summer.
Melinda French Gates has also made a donation to Future Forward, according to the NYT report. (She and Bill Gates announced in 2021 that they were divorcing.) Two of their children, Rory and Phoebe Gates, have “become involved as Democratic donors and played a key role in encouraging their parents to take giving to politics more seriously,” per the Times report.
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