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Most people would be satisfied with multiple palatial homes, enormous yachts, and being surrounded by millions of dollars of art. Billionaires expect more. Their latest spending spree has been focused on politicians. Just 100 billionaire families poured a record $2.6 billion into U.S. federal elections in 2024, accounting for about one of every six dollars spent during the election cycle.
Naturally, this spending is about electing people who will implement laws and policies that favor them. But what are they hoping to get in return? And how does this affect America’s democracy?
Key Takeaways
- The $2.6 billion invested by 100 billionaire families in the 2024 elections was double the amount billionaire donors contributed in 2020.
- The top 100 super-PAC donors (0.02% of all donors) accounted for 73% of all super-PAC money.
- So-called “dark money” spending on the 2024 election totaled $1.9 billion.
What Billionaires Get for Their Money
Billionaires spend vast amounts of money in politics for a reason: influence. Like most donors, they’re looking to sway elections in the hopes that their candidates will enact laws and policies that favor them. In the case of billionaires, the focus is usually on tax policies and regulations on businesses.
Critics like Americans for Tax Fairness argue that tax breaks for the ultrawealthy are often a direct result of political spending.
The Case of Elon Musk
Even in an American campaign system awash in billionaire cash, there’s never been anything quite like Elon Musk’s case. After the 2024 election, Musk was given unprecedented individual power to reshape the U.S. government.
The billionaire CEO of Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) and SpaceX, Musk was the single biggest contributor during the 2024 elections, writing checks for $291 million in support of Donald Trump and other Republican candidates. Once Trump was in office, Musk was tasked by Trump to create and control the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which slashed spending and implemented widespread layoffs across the federal bureaucracy, starting with agencies long targeted by Republicans.
Important
The bulk of billionaire money flows through super political action committees and independent expenditure groups, which can accept unlimited donations, unlike direct candidate or party contributions that are subject to federal limits.
Musk’s team also targeted agencies responsible for regulating his businesses. However, the alliance between Trump and his biggest supporter has spectacularly collapsed. In July 2025, Musk announced he was forming a new political party called the “America Party,” citing his opposition to Trump’s sweeping tax cuts legislation, which he called “insane.” The move is a dramatic break from the president who once elevated him to unprecedented power.
The public feud has exposed the fragile nature of relationships between billionaire donors and the politicians they support—and the potential consequences when those relationships sour.
Concentration and Influence
The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010 opened the floodgates for spending on U.S. elections.
Here are some additional details:
- Billionaire giving is highly concentrated: the top 10 billionaire families alone donated almost half of all billionaire political contributions.
- This spending is a minor expense for the ultrawealthy; the $2.6 billion donated represents just 0.07% of the collective wealth of the top 150 billionaire families, or about $140 for the median American household.
The Impact of Billionaire Spending on Democracy
The growing concentration of political power among the superrich has prompted concerns across the political spectrum about democratic representation. Political scientists and governance experts warn that when a small number of ultrawealthy families can outspend millions of ordinary voters, it fundamentally alters how elected officials prioritize policy decisions. The more money billionaires pump into politics, and the more unheard ordinary voters feel, the more people lose faith in democracy itself.
Nearly two-thirds of voters in a dozen wealthy democracies told the Journal of Democracy in 2024 that democracy wasn’t working. These concerns are likely to grow as billionaires are moving from spending to influence elections to taking political office themselves, significantly changing the composition of government. Trump’s cabinet is a case in point, with multimillionaires looking like paupers next to the many billionaires among the president’s appointees.
Bottom Line
Billionaires are investing unprecedented sums to influence U.S. elections, with just a few dozen families holding enormous influence on the results. As this money floods the political system, it not only concentrates power in the hands of a few, but critics fear that it undermines democracy itself.
