Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Richest Donors

Forbes

RFK Jr. inherited just a small slice of his family’s fortune, which helps explain why other rich people—including many Republicans—are bankrolling a Kennedy.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/leokamin/2024/07/14/here-are-robert-f-kennedy-jrs-richest-donors/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, here are Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s richest donors.

00:07Who is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the 2024 presidential race?

00:10Is he a spoiler poised to hand the election to Trump?

00:13Is he an appealing alternative to Biden?

00:16Is he an antidote to two-party rule?

00:18RFK Jr., the independent presidential candidate, is many things to many people.

00:24No surprise, then, that his richest donors are a diverse group.

00:29His richest donors are worth a combined $37 billion.

00:33These tycoons include once-dependable Democrats, political newcomers, and some of Trump's

00:38biggest backers.

00:39Together, they've seeded RFK Jr.'s long-shot bid with $39 million, funding a Super Bowl

00:46ad, and underwriting a frantic effort to get RFK Jr., who is JFK's nephew, on the ballot

00:52in all 50 states.

00:55It would take a lot more money to actually return a Kennedy to the White House, but $39

00:59million could nonetheless be enough to affect whether Biden or Trump ends up there.

01:05At number one on RFK Jr.'s richest donors list is Timothy Mellon, whose net worth is

01:10nearly $1 billion and who has given $25 million in donations to groups supporting Kennedy.

01:16The Mellons and Kennedys, American dynasties associated with opposite political parties,

01:22plummered together on Cape Cod in the 1960s.

01:26More than a half-century later, Timothy Mellon, who grew his family's banking inheritance

01:31in the railroad industry, is the biggest supporter of RFK Jr.'s candidacy.

01:36That doesn't necessarily mean he wants RFK Jr. to win.

01:40Mellon has invested more than three times as much into Donald Trump's effort to reclaim

01:44the White House.

01:46At number two is Nicole Shanahan, who is worth more than $300 million and who has given $14

01:52million to Kennedy groups.

01:55Not only is Shanahan RFK Jr.'s second biggest donor, but she's also his running mate.

02:01Shanahan is the ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

02:04She appears to have received at least 2.6 million shares of Google's parent company,

02:08Alphabet, in her divorce.

02:11If she held on to them, those shares would be worth nearly $500 million today.

02:16Shanahan gave thousands of dollars to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and even more to support Biden

02:21in 2020.

02:22But she was drawn to Kennedy, especially his ideas about chronic illness, which Shanahan

02:27believes can be caused by things like microplastics, electromagnetic pollution, and prescription

02:33medications.

02:34She spent $4 million to air a Super Bowl ad supporting Kennedy earlier this year, according

02:39to the New York Times.

02:41In March, Kennedy selected her as his running mate, allowing her to inject unlimited sums

02:46directly into the campaign.

02:48Since then, she has spent $10 million.

02:52At number 3 is John Paul DeGioia, who is worth $3 billion and who has donated $6,600 to Kennedy

02:58groups.

02:59DeGioia, a former door-to-door salesman who once lived out of a 20-year-old Rolls-Royce,

03:05co-founded the haircare giant John Paul Mitchell Systems in 1980 with just $700.

03:11Nine years later, he started Patron, a premium tequila brand he sold to Bacardi in 2018.

03:18DeGioia is a prolific philanthropist, and he also shares his fortune with politicians,

03:23mostly Republicans from his adopted home state of Texas.

03:26His connection to RFK Jr. runs deep, though.

03:29DeGioia is a trustee of Kennedy's Waterkeeper Alliance, one of multiple environmental efforts

03:34the billionaire has bankrolled.

03:36Kennedy was the first presidential candidate to receive a DeGioia donation since Jeb Bush.

03:42At number 4 and 5 are sister-in-law Holly Gores, who is worth $9.1 billion, and Kelly

03:48Gores, worth $2.2 billion.

03:51Each has given $6,600 to groups supporting Kennedy.

03:55While they are not mega-donors, they certainly have plenty of money to spend.

03:59Holly is married to Tom Gores, the owner of the Detroit Pistons.

04:03Kelly is married to his brother, Alec.

04:06The Los Angeles-based siblings once worked together on buyouts before striking it out

04:10on their own with separate private equity firms.

04:12Their wives have both donated $6,600 to Kennedy's campaign, which is the most any non-candidate

04:18can give directly to a campaign.

04:21So far, they have not handed over bigger sums to Kennedy's Super PAC, which is allowed

04:25to accept donations of any size.

04:28For full coverage and to see the rest of the list, check out Leo Kamen's piece on Forbes.com.

04:35This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:37Thanks for tuning in.

04:40♪♪♪

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