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Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump are locked in a tight race ahead of the November presidential election and some on Wall Street are choosing sides. Here’s what we know about the position of some big Wall Street bosses.
BILL ACKMAN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, PERSHING SQUARE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
Billionaire hedge fund manager Ackman endorsed Trump shortly after the former president was shot in the ear at a rally, a major change from January 2021, when Ackman called on Trump to resigning after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Mr. Ackman said he recently spent a few hours with Mr. Trump and sat next to him at a fundraiser, but he did not explain the reasons for his support. Mr. Ackman also gave $1 million to Rep. Dean Phillips’ primary campaign against President Joe Biden.
A spokesperson for Ackman declined to comment.
ROGER ALTMAN, CO-FOUNDER OF EVERCORE
Speaking to CNBC in July, Mr. Altman, a Democratic donor, said he supported Ms. Harris and that both campaigns would have all the money they needed. “It’s not money that will decide this race,” he added. An Evercore spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
MARC ANDREESSEN, GENERAL PARTNER, ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ
Silicon Valley venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, who has previously expressed support for Democrats including Hillary Clinton, told his employees in July that he was donating to Trump’s political action committees on the basis of the former president’s technology policies, several media outlets reported. A spokesman for Mr. Andreessen declined to make further comment.
SCOTT BESSENT, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF KEY SQUARE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
Mr. Bessent, a hedge fund manager, is acting as an unofficial adviser to Mr. Trump’s campaign and is seen as a possible Treasury secretary if Mr. Trump wins. Mr. Bessent told Bloomberg that he had advised Mr. Trump on how to get the U.S. debt under control. “This election cycle is the last chance for the United States to dig itself out of this mountain of debt,” he said. A representative for Mr. Bessent declined to comment.
BLACKSTONE PATTERNS
A longtime Trump donor and chief executive of private equity giant Blackstone BX.N , Stephen Schwarzman announced in May that he was supporting Trump. He gave $419,600 to the Trump 47 Committee Political Action Committee (PAC) in May, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records.
For his part, Jonathan Gray, chairman of Blackstone and Schwarzman’s deputy, gave $413,000 to the Harris Action Fund PAC, according to a person familiar with the matter.
A Blackstone representative declined to comment.
MARK CUBAN, BILLIONAIRE ENTREPRENEUR
Mark Cuban lined up behind Ms. Harris, praising her tax plan and support for entrepreneurs. He also rallied cryptocurrency executives to support the vice president and donate to her. “She is open-minded and realizes that for this country to succeed economically, we must return to the center,” Mr. Cuban told Reuters in an email.
JAMIE DIMON, CEO OF JPMORGAN
In an unusual move, the chief executive of the Wall Street bank, who generally leans Democratic, called in a Washington Post column for the next president to “restore our faith in America” and ensure that the next administration is composed of members of both political parties. However, he did not come out in favor of either candidate.
A JPMorgan spokesperson declined to comment.
BLAIR EFFRON, CO-FOUNDER, CENTERVIEW PARTNERS
Mr. Effron, a longtime Democratic supporter, is supporting Ms. Harris, according to multiple reports. Effron previously supported Harris when she ran in 2020, praising her “great leadership” and personal qualities during an interview with Bloomberg.
KEN GRIFFIN, GENERAL DIRECTOR, CITADEL
The hedge fund billionaire and Republican mega-donor, who has expressed skepticism of Mr. Trump in the past, said in May that he had not donated to Mr. Trump’s election campaign (). So far, Mr. Griffin has focused on supporting Republican congressional races, a source familiar with the matter said.
MARC LASRY, GENERAL DIRECTOR, AVENUE CAPITAL GROUP
Mr. Lasry, a longtime Democratic fundraiser who supported Ms. Harris during her first presidential bid, is backing her again for 2024. Lasry and his wife plan to hold fundraisers for Harris, the Journal reported in August. Representatives for Avenue Capital did not respond to a request for comment.
HOWARD LUTNICK, MANAGING DIRECTOR, CANTOR FITZGERALD
The investment banking chief, who says he has known Trump for decades, has hosted fundraisers for Trump. As co-chairman of Mr. Trump’s transition team, Mr. Lutnick is tapping his Wall Street network to build staff for a potential second Trump administration. At an event in New York this month, Mr. Lutnick said Mr. Trump was focused on economic growth.
PETER ORSZAG, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF LAZARD, AND RAY MCGUIRE, PRESIDENT OF LAZARD
Both leaders said they personally supported Mr. Harris as a candidate. Mr. Orszag previously held government positions under the Democratic Clinton and Obama administrations. A spokesperson declined to make further comment.
JOHN PAULSON, BILLIONAIRE INVESTOR
Paulson has long been a Trump supporter and fundraiser, supporting and advising the former president during his 2016 election campaign. Mr. Paulson, who has also been tipped to become Treasury secretary () if Trump wins, Mr. Trump cited energy policy and the U.S. trade deficit among his main concerns.
Speaking to Reuters at the same event in New York, Paulson said: “Overall, I think Trump’s policies will be far superior to the economic growth and Biden-Harris policies.”
PAUL SINGER, FOUNDER, ELLIOTT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
Republican mega-donor Paul Singer vigorously opposed Trump in 2016, arguing that his trade policies would be disastrous, and supported Nikki Haley’s rival bid for the Republican presidential nomination. However, Bloomberg reported in July that Mr. Singer had met with Mr. Trump to discuss donating to his campaign. Mr. Singer declined to comment.
TOM STEYER, FINANCIAL AND BILLIONAIRE
The billionaire climate activist, who ran for the Democratic nomination in 2020, endorsed Ms Harris on Xin July. “I have known Vice President Harris for over 15 years and have seen her defend the rule of law, advance true freedom, and achieve hard-fought results.”
Mr. Steyer could not be reached for comment.
ALEX AND GEORGE SOROS, INVESTORS
Alex Soros, son of Democratic mega-donor George Soros, quickly came out in support of Ms. Harris shortly after Joe Biden withdrew from the race, saying on X that it was time to unite around Ms. Harris and beat Trump. Her father also supports Ms Harris, a spokesman said.
ARK INVEST CEO CATHIE WOOD
A prominent voice in the crypto industry, Wood supported Trump in June before Democratic President Biden withdrew from the race.
“I’m going to vote for the person who will do the best job for our economy…and based on that, Trump,” she told banking advisor and YouTube personality Kevin Paffrath.
His support was seen as helping to cement Trump’s status as a pro-crypto candidate, leading to the injection of cryptocurrency into his campaign. An ARK spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on whether Ms. Wood had changed her mind since Ms. Harris became the Democratic nominee.
JEFFREY YASS
Founder of Pennsylvania-based trading firm Susquehanna International and a major investor in TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance, Yass – along with his wife Janine – is among the top donors in the 2024 US election cycle. Mr Yass gave more than $70 million to Republican causes so far in the 2024 election cycle, according to data from political donations observatory OpenSecrets.
The goal of Mr. Yass, a libertarian, is to advance congressional candidates who promote policies that allow students to leave low-performing schools. Mr. Yass does not appear to have donated to Mr. Trump, according to FEC records, but he has said that Mr. Trump was the best candidate for school choice.
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