U.S. Billionaires by the Numbers, tracking billionaires' political influence

BILLIONAIRE POLITICAL INFLUENCE

Like with their wealth, the political power of billionaires through federal campaign contributions is also growing exponentially. This in turn helps them grow their wealth even more by pressuring elected officials to adopt tax, spending and regulatory policies that favor the wealthy and corporations.

Prior to the 2012 federal election cycle, billionaires gave a relatively small share of campaign contributions. That changed dramatically with the U.S. Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision in January 2010, which enabled corporations and other outside groups to spend unlimited funds on elections.

All campaign contributions data, which is available here, is provided by OpenSecrets.org, Center for Responsive Politics. Data was available through the Federal Election Commission as of May 20, 2020 and includes contributions to federal candidates and to PACs, super PACs and other organizations favoring Democrats or Republicans. Amounts have not been adjusted for inflation.

Federal Campaign Contributions from Billionaires

Election Cycles

$2.1 Billion: Total federal campaign contributions from U.S. billionaires from the 1990 election cycle through May 2020. Most 2020 cycle contributions are likely to flow in the last half of the year.
Billionaire contributions in the 2016 presidential election cycle were 37 times more than in the 2000 presidential cycle – jumping from $18.5 million in 2000 to $684 million in 2016. It appears the “Citizens United” decision in 2010 opened these floodgates.
Billionaire campaign contributions increased 50 times between the midterm election cycles of 2006 and 2018 – growing from $12 million to $610 million.

Billionaire Contributions as % of Total Federal Campaign Contributions

Election Cycles

In the 2008 and 2010 election cycles, billionaire federal campaign contributions never exceeded 1% of all contributions. Their contributions accelerated beginning in 2012 after the U.S. Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision.
In the 2012 election cycle, billionaires contributed about 4% of all campaign contributions or $233 million. By the 2016 presidential cycle, billionaires had contributed 9.4%, or $684 million, and nearly 10% in the 2018 mid-term election cycle, or about $611 million.
There were 401 U.S. billionaires on the Forbes list in 2010, 424 in 2012, 541 in 2016 and 586 in 2018.

See Table for Number of Contributors

Billionaire Campaign Contributors Are Heavily Concentrated

The top three federal campaign contributors from the 1990 to 2020 election cycles account for more than 35% of the $2.1 billion total contributed by billionaires. They are Sheldon and Miriam Adelson ($308.4 million, or 14.4%), Tom Steyer and Kathryn Taylor ($274.6 million, or 12.8%), and Michael Bloomberg ($180.7 million, or 8.4%). These amounts do not include the huge sums Steyer and Bloomberg spent on their presidential campaigns.
The top 3 billionaire contributors account for nearly 36%, or $763 million, of all billionaire contributions during the 1990 to 2020 election cycles.
The top 20 billionaire contributors account for nearly 62%, or $1.3 billion, of all billionaire contributions during the 1990 to 2020 election cycles.
From the 1990 election cycle through 2020, just three billionaires have contributed $100 million or more; 199 have contributed $1 million or more; 440 have contributed $100,000 or more; and 506 have contributed $50,000 or more.

Top 20 Federal Campaign Contributors Among Billionaires

Billionaires Have Become Big Givers to Both Parties

Election Cycles

Up through the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision during the 2010 election cycle, billionaires contributed relatively modest amounts to federal candidates and campaign organizations. Billionaires give more to Republicans during presidential election cycles, but give more to Democrats during midterm elections.
In the 2010 election cycle Republican candidates and organizations received about $19 million from billionaires and Democratic candidates and organizations received about $11 million.
Billionaires went all in for Republicans during the 2012 presidential cycle when Mitt Romney was on the ballot. They more than doubled Democratic party contributions, topping out at nearly $173 million.
In 2016, when Donald Trump was head of the ticket, campaign contributions from billionaires to Republicans were $371 million -- more than double the amount in 2012 -- but that was just 20% more than the Democrats’ $309 million in contributions.
By the 2018 mid-term election cycle, billionaires contributed slightly more to Democratic party election efforts than to Republicans -- $313 million to $278 million.