Former New York City Mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg recently made a contribution to the campaign backing Vice President Kamala Harris, donating $50 million to Future Forward USA Action, a nonprofit aligned with her main super PAC, Future Forward.
The New York Times said that Bloomberg’s decision to make the change came with only eight days left before the election. The former New York City Mayor has been less active in this election cycle than he was in the last presidential election when he fervently campaigned for Biden.
In 2020 Bloomberg attempted to compete in the California Democratic primary but pulled out early after a bad performance during the debate in Nevada and winning only the territory of American Samoa. After his resignation, he supported Biden and spent hundreds of millions for his victory.
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Back in September 2020, Bloomberg, with an estimated net worth of $105 billion, announced a $100 million push to flip Florida in Biden’s favour.
Bloomberg’s relationship with Biden remains frosty
This year, Bloomberg was notably less active, but important personalities such as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman from LinkedIn, and venture capitalist Ron Conway, among others, had begun placing pressure on him to contribute to the cause before it got too out of hand.
Bloomberg also reportedly had a private phone conversation with Harris in recent weeks. Despite expressing previous concerns over Harris’ readiness, Bloomberg has warmed up to her, reportedly speaking positively about her during a conversation with business executive Ken Chenault at Sag Harbor around the time of the August Democratic National Convention.
Prior to this latest $50 million, Bloomberg had already donated $47 million to Democrats this election cycle, making him the second largest donor behind George Soros.
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This total, however, is less than half of the $95 million he contributed during the 2018 midterms, when he invested heavily in Democratic campaigns to flip Congress under former President Trump’s administration. During the Trump era, Bloomberg contributed over $250 million across the 2018 and 2020 cycles.
Bloomberg’s relationship with Biden reportedly remains “frosty,” according to The New York Times. He reportedly found his 2020 run “scarring,” given the substantial $1.1 billion personal investment that yielded limited results.
