September 26, 2006
Hedging Their Funds
When Forbes magazine released its annual 400 Richest Americans list, we saw more than a few familiar names. We've excerpted the most politically pertinent ones below:
Rank: Person (Estimated wealth)
1: Bill Gates ($53B), a.k.a. the wealthiest man in America, maxed out to Bill Frist's VOLPAC in '04 and '06, and also gave $2,000 to George Allen's campaign.
2: Warren Buffet ($46B) gave to both Democrats and Republicans.
6, 7, 9, 11: The Wal-Mart family, a.k.a. Jim, Christy, S Pobson, Alice and Helen Walton (around $15B each) gave more than $150,000 total to almost exclusively Republicans in 2006.
25: Metromedia Chair John Werner Kluge ($9.1B) gave only one political donation this cycle -- $1,000 to Sen. Chris Dodd's CHRISPAC.
27: Hedge Fund mogul George Soros ($8.5B) gave $88,000 exclusively to Democrats and like organizations this cycle, including one grand to Ned Lamont in June.
44: NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg ($5.3B) is officially the richest politician in America this year.
57: Former Independent Presidential candidate Ross Perot ($4.3B) is a fan of George Allen.
73: Michigan candidate for Governor Dick DeVos' ($3.5) father is funding his son -- highest name on the list running for office this year.
107: The Rales family, namely Mitchell Rales ($2.6B), helped out their kin Josh Rales in his failed Maryland Senate bid.
133: Nebraska Senate candidate Pete Rickett's family ($2.3B) just helped him trigger the Millionaire's amendment in his race. 242: Here's a blast from the past -- Eleventh hour Clinton pardon Marc Rich ($1.5B) is still living well in Switzerland.
[SHIRA TOEPLITZ]
Posted at 03:17 PM
Comments
Michael Dell just did a press conference with Rick Perry, and I believe has given him money (though I haven't double-checked).
Evan | 09.27.06 04:58 AM
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