TECH ELITE: Tech billionaires and venture capitalists are some of the biggest contributions to super political action committee (PACs) in the 2020 US elections, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. US campaign finance laws restrict individual donations to campaigns to $2,800 per election. A US Supreme Court decision in 2010, however, sets no legal limit on how much a person can contribute to a super PAC.
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TOP CAMPAIGN DONORS: The center states that between funds to campaigns and outside groups, employees from internet companies committed 98% of their contributions to Democrats, CNBC reported. California and Washington, America's top tech-driven states, have long been Democratic strongholds. A lion's share of their contributions went to getting President Donald Trump out of office and helping Democrats take control of the Senate. It's primarily fuelled by an antipathy towards President Trump’s policies on immigration, trade and climate change, as well as his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Among the top campaign fund donors in the 2020 US elections are:
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DUSTIN MOSKOVITZ, $24 million: CEO of Asana, who made his fortunes as a Facebook co-founder.
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JEFF LAWSON AND HIS WIFE, ERICA, $7 million: CEO of cloud communications platform Twilio, based in San Francisco, California.
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ERIC SCHMIDT, $6 million: Google ex-CEO. Along with Muskovits and Lawson, Schmidt completes the top three contributors to Future Forward USA, a super PAC behind Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.
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REED HASTINGS AND WIFE PATTY QUILLIN, $5 million: Netflix CEO. The biggest chunk went to the Senate Majority PAC, a group backing Democratic candidates in the closest races, like in Maine, Texas and Iowa. Democrats head into election day with a 53-47 deficit in the US Senate.
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REID HOFFMAN, $14 million: LinkedIn co-founder and partner at venture firm Greylock Partners. His contibution included $2 million to the Senate Majority PAC and $1 million each to Biden backers Unite the Country and American Bridge 21st Century.
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VINOD KHOSLA, $2 million: Venture capitalist. Khosla donated $1 million each to the Senate Majority PAC and American Bridge 21st Century.
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MICHAEL MORITZ, $3 million. Author, venture capitalist, tech entrepreneur (Sequoia Capital). His contribution included $1.5 million to Pacronym, which is focused on backing Democrats in closely-contested states.
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JESSICA LIVINGSTON, $5 million: Co-founder of start-up incubator Y Combinator. Her donation went to Tech for Campaigns, which provides digital and technical assistance to Democratic groups.
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PETER THIEL, $2 million: Venture capitalist. He is known as the biggest Republican funder in tech this year. Thiel, who worked on Trump’s initial campaign in 2016, contributed more than $2 million to the Free Forever PAC, dedicated to electing Republican Kris Kobach to the Senate in Kansas. Kobach lost in the primary earlier this year.
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STEVE BALLMER AND WIFE CONNIE, $7 million: Microsoft ex-CEO, who now owns the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers. The Ballmers contributed $7 million to Everytown for Gun Safety, which supports Biden and congressional candidates working toward gun reform.
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IRWIN JACOBS AND WIFE JOAN, $7 million: Co-founder and former CEO of Qualcomm. Their money has gone towards the Democrat groups Senate Majority PAC and House Majority PAC. They’ve also committed $3 million to Forward California.
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KENNETH DUDA, $4 million. Co-founder of networking company Arista, has donated to American Bridge 21st Century and Pacronym.
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MARC MERRILL, $1 million. Co-founder of Riot Games, which was acquired by China’s Tencent in 2011, has contributed to Unite America, a group that supports congressional candidates in both parties.
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