Billionaires and Elon Musk, who recently temporarily achieved trillionaire status, make up the top individual donors.
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The top donors in American politics have poured in more than $1.7 billion to influence this election cycle so far, and the latest numbers show a last-minute rush of money from benefactors of the GOP, according to a Washington Post analysis of Federal Election Commission data.
The cryptocurrency brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, billionaires who give heavily to Republicans, expanded their contributions, donating $10 million in August, campaign finance filings show. Democrats also got a sizable boost in August from a dark-money group that does not disclose donors, House Majority Forward. It gave another $20 million to the committee supporting the party’s House candidates.
Major political donors lean Republican, and cash could prove critical for the GOP to maintain control of Congress in November. Republican-leaning donors gave $1.07 billion, compared with $450 million from Democratic-leaning givers and $250 million from bipartisan and special-interest groups.
Most of the money, regardless of affiliation, was given to super PACs that can legally accept unlimited sums.
Billionaires and Elon Musk, who was for a short period in June the world’s first trillionaire, make up the top individual donors.
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In some cases, individual contributors donate to political action committees through companies they own rather than under their own name. For example, billionaire Democratic donor George Soros is the owner of Geosor and the Fund for Policy Reform, which together gave $102 million in the first six months of the cycle.
(Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, one of the world’s wealthiest people, has donated just $15,000 this cycle, all of it to federal committees affiliated with companies Amazon and Blue Origin.)
Individual donors pumped the most money into this cycle, but a variety of groups also weighed in with big donations.
The list includes organizations that are focused on advancing a cause rather than being affiliated with a political party. Among them are the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee, as well as the cryptocurrency companies Coinbase and Ripple and sports gambling company DraftKings.
The Washington Post analyzed contributions to federal political committees since Jan. 1, 2025, covering donations reported to the Federal Election Commission as of Sept. 21, 2026. Direct independent expenditures, loans, refunds, bank payments such as interest and dividends, and contributions from a candidate to their own campaign are not included. Donations made by federal political action committees are not part of the list of top donors. Giving from some individuals includes donations from organizations controlled by them. Groups that gave to support candidates from both parties, or gave largely to nonpartisan PACs, are marked as “special interest.” If individuals endorsed President Donald Trump, they are marked as Republican. This tally will be updated periodically.
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