'This election is different.' Bill Gates makes secret donation to Kamala Harris' campaign
Bill Gates (Getty Images)
Bill Gates, one of the richest men in the world, privately said that he recently had donated about $50 million to a nonprofit organization that supports Kamala Harris' presidential campaign, reports The New York Times.
The Microsoft founder did this after decades of abstaining from politics.
The donations were supposed to remain secret. Gates has not publicly supported Harris, and his donation will be a significant change in the strategy that has previously kept him from making such gifts.
In private conversations with friends, Gates has expressed concern about what a second Donald Trump presidency would look like, though he has emphasized that he could work with either candidate.
Gates does not have a close relationship with Harris, but he has welcomed the Biden-Harris administration's work on climate change. Gates' charitable organization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is seriously concerned about possible cuts to family planning and global health programs if Trump is elected, two people close to the foundation said.
Secret contribution
Gates said he made his donation to Future Forward, the main outside fundraising group supporting Harris, sources told The New York Times.
Gates discussed his donation to Harris with his close circle, including Mike Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City and a major supporter of Future Forward, who was considering a similar donation, the sources said.
Gates' donation was sent directly to Future Forward's nonprofit arm, Future Forward USA Action, which, as a dark money organization, does not disclose its donors. Any contribution from Gates will never be published in any public records.
In a statement responding to the report, Gates did not directly mention a donation or endorsement of Harris in the race. He emphasized his bipartisanship - but also said that “this election is different.”
“I support candidates who demonstrate a clear commitment to improving health care, reducing poverty and fighting climate change in the US and around the world. I have a long history of working with leaders across the political spectrum, but this election is different, with unprecedented significance for Americans and the most vulnerable people around the world," he told The New York Times.
Bloomberg and Gates are longtime friends who share a common bond over philanthropy, health care, and climate change. Gates, whose capital is estimated to be worth $162 billion, has long been pushed by Democratic friends and donors to run against Trump, but he has always resisted.
Like his ex-wife Melinda French Gates, Gates has long sought to stay above politics to be credible with both Democratic and Republican audiences and administrations, especially those working in developing countries.
“I choose not to participate in large political donations,” Gates said in late 2019.
Donating to a dark money group offers protection: some wealthy donors who support Harris are nervous about being publicly identified with her campaign, fearing Trump will retaliate after November. Trump has threatened to go after Harris's supporters, including her biggest donors.
Gates is one of the most tracked people in philanthropy, with a network of wealthy donors who hold him in high regard. Many of these people are part of the Giving Pledge community, a group of billionaires organized by Gates and French Gates who pledge to donate at least half of their assets to charity.
Earlier, billionaire Elon Musk allocated about $75 million over three months to the support group for Donald Trump in swing states.
Musk also promised to pay $1 million daily to a random person for supporting his petition. Experts believe that this is similar to bribing voters.
