Silicon Valley’s Andreessen, Horowitz Give Millions to Trump

(Bloomberg) — Venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz each donated $2.5 million to a pro-Donald Trump super political action committee, according to the latest filings with the Federal Election Commission.

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The eponymous founders of venture firm Andreessen Horowitz shocked Silicon Valley when they announced they would support Trump in July. It was not previously known which Trump-allied group they were supporting. Andreessen also gave an additional $844,600 — the federal limit — to Trump’s campaign and the Republican Party.

Horowitz in October made another surprising announcement when he informed his firm that he’d also be making a “significant” donation to Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, despite not knowing or endorsing her policies. Any record of that contribution has not yet shown up in federal filings.

The initial pro-Trump donations were made within days of Harris replacing President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket. At the time, they said they supported Trump’s policies as most beneficial to cryptocurrency and startups, a position they called the “little tech agenda.”

“I’m going to have a lot of friends who are probably pissed off at me for saying anything nice about President Trump,” Horowitz said in a July video about their decision. “So here we are, and for little tech, we think Donald Trump is actually the right choice.”

Andreessen Horowitz, one of the best-known firms in tech, has become more enmeshed in politics in recent months. The firm has been stepping up its Washington lobbying footprint, and last year Horowitz wrote that the firm’s partners would seek to back candidates who support an “optimistic, technology-enabled future” and oppose “misguided” tech regulations. Andreessen also appeared at a Trump fundraiser in June.

Andreessen and Horowitz donated to Right For America, a super PAC that’s focusing most of its spending in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania. The group’s biggest backers are Isaac Perlmutter, the former chairman of Marvel Entertainment, and his wife Laura Perlmutter, who combined to give $4.9 million in the last quarter, bringing their total donations this year to $25 million, the filings show. Apollo Global Management LLC CEO Marc Rowan also gave $1 million.

The super PAC raised $27.8 million, spent $22.6 million, and entered the final weeks of the campaign with $43.6 million cash on hand, a sizable sum to persuade voters in the last stretch of the campaign.

Trump Turnout

Trump, whose campaign’s fundraising has fallen far behind that of Harris, also benefited from some big donations from billionaires to help the GOP get out the vote. Energy Transfer LP founder Kelcy Warren, Andy Beal of Beal Financial and Diane Hendricks, owner of ABC Supply Co., all contributed at least $1 million to Turnout For America, a super PAC that’s supporting Trump’s get-out-the-vote efforts. It raised $18.5 million, spent $15.7 million and began October with $2.7 million cash on hand.

Big donors were also opening up their checkbooks to help Harris. The Republican Accountability PAC, a group supporting the vice president founded by “Never Trump” conservatives before the 2020 election, raised $16.6 million and entered October with $8.7 million in the bank. Netflix’s Reed Hastings gave it $6.9 million, and it also received big donations from hedge fund manager Seth Klarman and the Pacific Environmental Coalition, a nonprofit led by technology venture capitalist Matt Cohler. Cohler’s nonprofit donated to Nikki Haley’s super PAC in the Republican primaries.

Committees that elect to file quarterly, including presidential joint fundraising committees and the super PACs that are linked to Republican and Democratic leaders in the Senate and GOP leaders in the House, have until midnight New York time to disclose detailed financial information with the Federal Election Commission.

House, Senate

Money also poured into super PACs focused on down-ballot races, including the big groups tied to Republican leadership and boutique operations supported by a handful of like-minded donors seeking to influence the composition of the next Congress, with both chambers currently divided by the narrowest of margins.

The Senate Leadership Fund, which backs Republicans, raised $111 million. Three donors — Citadel founder Ken Griffin, who gave $20 million, hedge fund manager Paul Singer, who gave $10 million, and Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, who gave $9 million, accounted for more than a third of the total. The super PAC, which entered October with $85 million in the bank, also got big donations from Miriam Adelson, the majority shareholder of Las Vegas Sands, and billionaire Patrick Ryan of Ryan Specialty Group.

On a smaller scale, Timothy Dunn, the Crownquest Operating co-founder who’s a major backer of Texas conservative politicians and PACs, gave $16 million to Jefferson Rising, a super PAC he largely finances. Dunn’s money is attacking Democrats in six Senate battlegrounds.

Republican donors are also trying to preserve their very narrow majority in the House, and gave $81.5 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, which has links to House Speaker Mike Johnson. Investor Timothy Mellon, the biggest donor so far in the 2024 election cycle according to OpenSecrets and Dunn each gave $5 million. Cantor Fitzgerald’s Howard Lutnick, tapped by Trump to co-chair his transition committee should he win the election, gave $1.5 million.

(Updates with House, Senate donations, in the final four paragraphs)