Dozens of Wall Street executives have lined up to funnel as much money as legally allowed to Donald Trump’s rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.
Ron DeSantis, the leading contender to Trump, was a popular choice, attracting 15 significant donations from the likes of Paul Tudor Jones, a hedge fund manager who has previously bankrolled Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, and Chris Christie.
Nikki Haley also secured 12 maximum donations from Wall Street. Even Vivek Ramaswamy, who has retained a much more positive relationship with Trump than most of the GOP field – and accused Wall Street of having “birthed a new woke-industrial complex” together with Silicon Valley – has received support.
NBC News, which analyzed the FEC filings in collaboration with CNBC, noted that financiers’ backing of Trump rivals is “a continuation of the anti-Trump trend that saw just over $74 million from Wall Street leaders go to support Joe Biden” in 2020 – far greater than the $18 million finance gave to the Trump campaign.