Headline
Major Tobacco Corporation Emerged as Top Corporate Sponsor in 2024 Presidential Elections Campaigns
Millionaire business tycoons channeled funds into the 2024 presidential race's contest, yet organizations predominantly abstained—however, the leading corporate benefactor was a prominent tobacco corporation that endorsed President-elect Donald Trump, according to federal documents, and the president-elect also witnessed enhancement from the oil and private prison sectors, which stand to profit under his presidency.
Critical Information
RAI Services Co., a subsidiary of Reynolds American, emerged as the top corporate donor to Trump's campaign and affiliated super PACs, as evidenced by Federal Election Commission filings, contributing a total of $10 million to the Make America Great Again Inc. super PAC that backed Trump's campaign in 2024.
Reynolds controls various well-known tobacco brands, such as Newport, Camel, Pall Mall, Lucky Strike, and Natural American Spirit.
The Washington Post disclosed in September that Trump-supporting Reynolds lobbyist Brian Ballard suggested the company donate to Trump, as tobacco executives apparently viewed electing the former president as the best avenue to prevent a potential ban on menthol cigarettes and curtail regulation against the tobacco industry.
Trump—who has publicly expressed disdain for smoking—took some measures in his initial term to restrict flavored e-cigarettes, but The Post notes he scaled back plans for more extensive regulations after being advised it could upset some of his supporters, and Reynolds executives are reportedly hopeful they can bolster their relationship with Trump and deter him from taking action on menthol cigarettes.
FEC filings indicate RAI and Reynolds' political PAC also provided monetary support to numerous congressional candidates during this election cycle, primarily focusing on Republican candidates but also extending some financial aid to Democrats, such as Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.
Trump’s transition team has yet to respond to a request for comment on RAI's backing and how Trump intends to handle the tobacco industry when he assumes office.
What Companies Supported Trump's Campaign?
FEC filings reveal corporate donations accounted for only a modest portion of donations to Trump and his affiliated PACs, yet organizations in some significant industries aided his election. Continental Resources, an oil and gas corporation controlled by billionaire Trump backer Harold Hamm, contributed $2 million to Make America Great Again Inc., as per FEC filings. Unsurprisingly, as Trump solicited oil executives for donations during the election—reportedly with Hamm serving as his main intermediary—and has placed an emphasis on boosting oil and gas drilling in the U.S. and minimizing climate change mitigation efforts. The GEO Group, a private prison corporation, also contributed $1 million to Make America Great Again Inc. and a combined $80,000 to the Trump campaign's joint fundraising committees through its corporate PAC and a subsidiary. And these donations proved profitable: The corporation, along with others in the private prison industry, saw their stock values escalate after Trump's election, given his plan to crack down on unlawful immigration. Other companies that contributed $1 million to Make America Great Again, Inc. are Florida Crystals, a sugar cane company controlled by a wealthy family that plays a considerable role in Florida real estate; Extremity Care, a Pennsylvania-based medical company that has invested heavily in lobbying federal health agencies; and M8 Enterprises LLC, a consulting company ran by Emil Michael, a former Uber executive whom Trump appointed as the Department of Defense's under secretary for research and engineering. Tobacco company Altria also provided $2.5 million in support of the Republican National Convention throughout the summer, and Hendricks Holding Co., owned by billionaire Trump donor Diane Hendricks, also supplied $5 million for the convention.
What Companies Backed Kamala Harris?
While Harris exceeded Trump in overall donations and secured contributions from multiple billionaires, the vice president garnered scant support from corporate interests, as per FEC filings. The biggest super PAC supporting Harris, Future Forward, did not receive any corporate donations exceeding $1 million, and although it did receive $1 million from cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase on August 14, this appears to be a transfer of cryptocurrency donations made to the PAC by Ripple CEO Christian Larsen. Geosor Corporation, a company owned by billionaire and Democratic megadonor George Soros, also contributed $10 million to Soros' Democracy PAC, which disbursed funds to super PACs that supported Harris' campaign. Super PACs supporting Harris received some smaller contributions from companies, such as a PAC affiliated with the game Cards Against Humanity providing $159,000 to Women Vote PAC, the political committee arm of Emily's List that helps elect female candidates.
Big Sum
$825.9 million. That's the total amount raised in 2024 between Trump's two joint fundraising committees—which raised funds for both him and the Republican National Committee—and Make America Great Again, Inc., meaning the more than $16 million in large corporate donations that went to those groups accounted for only a small portion of their total earnings. Donors raised $1.7 billion in 2024 to sustain Harris' campaign, between her main fundraising committee Harris Victory Fund and Future Forward. These sums do not include other, smaller, PACs that backed each candidate.
In the ongoing political race, the sector contributing the most funds to federal candidates this year, beyond presidential candidates, is cryptocurrency. As crypto firms emerged as a significant political influence, the establishment of the Fairshake PAC saw considerable investments in downballot races. This PAC, active on both sides of the political divide and advocating for cryptocurrency, received notable contributions of at least $25 million each from Coinbase and Ripple Labs, as well as Andressen Horowitz, a private venture capital firm. These substantial donations rank as the largest federal political contributions made by any corporation in 2024. Despite avoiding direct involvement in the presidential race, both candidates – Harris and Trump – received considerable support from the crypto industry. Harris received contributions from figures such as Ben Horowitz, a partner at Andressen Horowitz, while Trump garnered the majority of his support from cryptocurrency leaders, with donations from figures like Marc Andreesen, Jesse Powell, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss among others.
Who Were The Top Donors To Trump And Harris?
While corporations mainly focused on influencing the presidential race indirectly, leading billionaires personally invested hefty sums in their preferred candidates. Over 100 billionaires openly supported either Trump or Harris. Billionaire Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, donated more than $200 million to aid Trump, primarily through his America PAC. The Uihlein couple, founders of shipping company Uline, contributed $10 million to Make America Great Again, Inc. Miriam Adelson, who retains half ownership of Las Vegas Sands post her husband, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson's death, donated nearly $100 million to a pro-Trump PAC. Hendricks, ABC Supply's CEO, invested more than $15 million in support of Trump. Other prominent Trump supporters in the business community include Kelcy Warren (Energy Transfer), Jimmy John Liautaud (Jimmy John's), Bernard Marcus (Home Depot co-founder), and Tilman Fertitta, who was nominated as Trump's ambassador to Italy.
On the other hand, Harris received backing from prominent business leaders such as LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman (approx. $12 million to Future Forward and Harris's campaign), Netflix chairman Reed Hastings ($7 million donation to Harris), which led some Republicans to discontinue their Netflix subscriptions. Other significant Harris backers in the business community include Mark Cuban, Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg LP owner), Paul Sciarra (Pinterest co-founder), Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
- Despite Kamala Harris exceeding Donald Trump in overall donations, she received scant support from corporate interests, with only companies like Geosor Corporation, controlled by billionaire George Soros, contributing significant amounts.
- In contrast, Reynolds American, a prominent tobacco corporation that backed Trump's campaign, emerged as the top corporate donor to his campaign and affiliated super PACs, contributing a total of $10 million to Make America Great Again Inc.
- The Washington Post reported that Trump-supporting Reynolds lobbyist Brian Ballard suggested the company donate to Trump, as tobacco executives viewed electing the former president as the best avenue to prevent a potential ban on menthol cigarettes and curtail regulation against the tobacco industry.
- Among the companies that donated to Trump's campaign, Continental Resources, an oil and gas corporation controlled by billionaire Trump backer Harold Hamm, contributed $2 million to Make America Great Again Inc.
- The GEO Group, a private prison corporation, also contributed $1 million to Make America Great Again Inc. and a combined $80,000 to the Trump campaign's joint fundraising committees through its corporate PAC and a subsidiary, profiting from his election and his plan to crack down on unlawful immigration.
