Meet The Billionaires Behind The Best Presidents Money Can Buy

Submitted by Tyler Durden: The last time we checked on the (funding) status of America's real presidential race - the one where America's uber-wealthy try to outspend each other in hopes of purchasing the best president money can buy - the totals were substantially lower. With November 6 rapidly approaching, however, the scramble to lock in those record political lobbying IRRs is in its final lap. And thanks to the unlimited nature of PAC spending, look for the spending to really go into overdrive in the next 2 weeks as the spending frenzy on the world's greatest tragicomedy hits previously unseen heights.

RESTORE OUR FUTURE
Total raised as of Sept. 30: $110.5 million - supports Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney

• Bob Perry - Houston builder who was a major donor to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that helped undermine 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry by attacking his Vietnam War record. Total donations: $10 million
• Sheldon Adelson - billionaire Las Vegas casino magnate who built the Venetian hotel and casino. Donation: $5 million
• Miriam Adelson - Sheldon's wife. Donation: $5 million
• Bill Koch - brother of conservative financiers David and Charles Koch. He runs Oxbow Carbon, a Florida-based firm that is also a donor and shares its address with another contributor, Huron Carbon. Total donations, including through firms: $4 million
• Steven Lund - runs Nu Skin, a Utah skin care and cosmetics company whose former executives have been linked to two other firms that share an address in Provo, Utah, and donated to the Super PAC: F8 LLC and Eli Publishing. Lund's wife Kalleen is also a donor. Total donations from the Lunds and firms: $3 million
• Julian Robertson - hedge fund industry legend at Tiger Management. Total donations: $1.3 million
• Crow Holdings - Dallas-based investment firm managing the wealth of the family of the late Dallas real estate mogul Trammell Crow, whose sons Harlan and Trammell S. Crow are also donors. Total Crow Holdings and Crow donations: $1.3 million
• Harold Simmons - billionaire Dallas banker and CEO of Contran Corp who has contributed to PACs supporting Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich. Donations: $1.3 million
• Frank VanderSloot - Idaho businessman who runs the nutritional and cosmetics company Melaleuca. The firm and its subsidiaries have also donated. Total donations: $1.1 million
• The Villages of Lake Sumter - a community in Florida run by billionaire Gary Morse, who is also a donor alongside his wife Renee and their several children. Along with the Morse family, thirteen companies controlled wholly or partially by Morse that share an address in The Villages have also contributed. Total donations of all: $1.7 million.
• Kenneth Griffin - Chicago-based hedge fund manager and CEO of Citadel LLC. Total donations: $1.1 million
• Bob Parsons - billionaire founder of web hosting giant Go Daddy. Donation: $1 million
• Jim Davis - chairman of New Balance Athletic Shoes Inc. Donations: $1 million
• Stanley Herzog - CEO of Missouri-based Herzon Contracting Corp. Donation: $1 million
• Bruce Kovner - billonaire hedge fund manager at Caxton Alternative Management. Donation: $1 million
• Rocco Ortenzio - Pennsylvania healthcare executive and founder of Select Medical Corp. Total donations: $1 million
• John Childs - founder of private equity firm J.W. Childs Associates LP in Florida. Donation: $1 million
• Edward Conard - a New York investor and former executive at Bain Capital, a private equity firm co-founded by Romney. Donation: $1 million
• John Kleinheinz - Texas hedge fund manager for Kleinheinz Capital Partners Inc. Donation: $1 million
• J.W. Marriott Jr. - chairman and CEO of Marriott International, brother of Richard. Total donations: $1 million
• Richard Marriott - chairman of Host Marriott International. Total donations: $1 million
• Robert McNair - owner of the Houston Texans football team. Donation: $1 million.
• Robert Mercer - New York hedge fund manager at Renaissance Technologies. Donation: $1 million
• John Paulson - a prominent New York hedge fund manager at Paulson and Co. Donation: $1 million
• Rooney Holdings Inc - private investment firm formed in 1980s to acquire the Manhattan Construction Co. and has since expanded into many areas. Total donations: $1 million
• Paul Singer - hedge fund manager who helped fund efforts to legalize gay marriage in New York. Donation: $1 million
• Paul and Sandra Edgerly - Paul Edgerly of Brookline, Massachusetts, is an executive at Bain. The Edgerlys each have given $500,000. Total donations: $1 million
• Steven Webster - private equity executive at Avista Capital in Houston. Total donations: $1 million
• Robert Brockman - executive at Reynolds and Reynolds, a Dayton, Ohio-based car dealership support company that shares a P.O. Box with CRC Information Systems Inc, Fairbanks Properties LLC and Waterbury Properties LLC, which split the donation three ways. Total donations: $1 million
• Miguel Fernandez - chairman of MBF Healthcare Partners, a private equity firm. MBF Family Investments also donated to the Super PAC. Total donations: $1 million
• Renco Group Inc. - owned by New York billionaire Ira Rennert, another frequent contributor to Republicans this year. Donation: $1 million
• OdysseyRe Holdings Corp - reinsurance underwriting company in Stamford, Connecticut that is a U.S. subsidiary of Toronto-based Fairfax Financial. Donation: $1 million

PRIORITIES USA ACTION
Total raised as of Sept. 30: $50.1 million - supports Democratic President Barack Obama

• James Simons - billionaire hedge fund manager, founder of Renaissance Technologies Corp. Donation: $3.5 million
• Fred Eychaner - founder of Newsweb Corp. Donation: $3.5 million
• Jeff Katzenberg - chief executive of DreamWorks Animation. Donation: $3 million
• Steve Mostyn - Houston attorney. Donation: $2 million
• Irwin Mark Jacobs - former CEO of Qualcomm Inc. Donation: $2 million
• Jon Stryker - billionaire activist and heir to the medical supply company fortune of his grandfather. Donation: $2 million
• Anne Cox Chambers - billionaire daughter of James M. Cox, founder of Cox Enterprises. Total donations: $1.5 million
• National Air Traffic Controllers Association - union representing more than 16,000 workers. Donation: $1.3 million
• S. Daniel Abraham - billionaire creator of Slim-Fast brand, chairman of S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace. Donation: $1.2 million
• Barbara Stiefel - retiree in Coral Gables, Florida. Donation: $1.1 million
• United Auto Workers - Donations through various funds: $1.1 million
• Kareem Ahmed - chief executive at Landmark Medical Management in California. Donation: $1 million
• David Boies, Jr - New York lawyer. Donation: $1 million
• Morgan Freeman - Hollywood actor. Donation: $1 million
• Amy Goldman - writer and heiress to the New York real estate fortune of Sol Goldman. Donation: $1 million
• Franklin Haney - owner and CEO of FLH Company, a Washington-based real estate company. Donation: $1 million
• Bill Maher - stand-up comedian. Donation: $1 million
• Mel Heifetz - real estate developer and gay activist. Donation: $1 million
• Michael Snow - Minnesota lawyer. Donation: $1 million.
• Steven Spielberg - film director. Donation: $1 million.
• Ann Wyckoff - Seattle philanthropist. $1 million.
• Service Employees International Union Committee on Political Education - union representing more than 2 million workers. Donation: $1 million.
• United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry - union representing some 340,000 workers. Total donations: $1 million

AMERICAN CROSSROADS
Total raised as of Sept. 30: $68 million - supports Republican candidates for federal offices

• Harold Simmons - Total donations together with Contran Corp: $15.5 million
• Bob Perry - Total donations: $6.5 million
• Robert Rowling - an Irving, Texas, businessman and a conservative and active Republican donor. His company, TRT Holdings Inc, which runs Omni Hotel and Gold's Gym chains, is also a donor. Total donations: $4 million
• Joe Craft - billionaire coal executive from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and CEO of Alliance Holdings, which is also a donor. Total donations: $2.1 million
• Jerry Perenchio Living Trust - a trust of billionaire television tycoon A. Jerrold Perenchio, who is a former chairman of Spanish-language broadcaster Univision. Donation: $2 million
• Crow Holdings - Dallas-based real estate investment firm. Total donations: $1.5 million
• Weaver Holdings and Weaver Popcorn - Indiana-based company specializing in popcorn. Total contributions: $1.9 million
• Stephens Inc - a Little Rock, Arkansas, broker dealer. Total donations: $1.3 million
• Armstrong Group - telecommunications conglomerate in Pennsylvania. Donation: $1.3 million
• JWC III Revocable Trust - Donatoin: $1.3 million
• Robert Brockman - executive at Ohio-based Reynolds and Reynolds. Similarly to Restore Our Future, three firms sharing a P.O. Box - CRC Information Systems Inc, Fairbanks Properties LLC and Waterbury Properties LLC - split the donation three ways. Total donations: $1 million
• Whiteco Industries - Indiana-based company involved in advertising, construction, entertainment and hotels. Donation: $1 million
• The Mercury Trust - entity linked to California private equity firm of Saul Fox. Donation: $1 million
• Clayton Williams Energy Inc - Midland, Texas-based drilling company. Donation: $1 million
• Jay Bergman - of PETCO Petroleum Corporation. Donation: $1 million
• Kenneth Griffin - Citadel Investment Group chief executive. Total donations: $1 million
• Wayne Hughes - Founder of Public Storage. Total donations: $1 million
• John Childs - Chairman and CEO of Boston-based JW Childs Associates. Total donations: $1 million
• Philip Geier - New York executive. Total donations: $1 million
• Irving Moskowitz - a Florida bingo magnate who runs a charity in California and is known for his support of Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem. Donation: $1 million
• Robert Mercer - co-CEO of hedge fund Renaissance Technologies. Donation: $1 million

BARACK OBAMA (Democrat)

• Total raised, including transfers: $609.4 million
• Raised in September, including transfers: $136.2 million
• Total transferred from the funds jointly used by the campaign and the Democratic Party: $176.6 million
• Transferred in September: $39.8 million
• Total spent: $469.9 million
• Spent in September: $111.4 million
• Cash on hand: $99.3 million
• Debt: $2.6 million

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE

• Total raised: $253.6 million
• Raised in September: $20.3 million
• Total transferred in: $108.4 million
• Transferred in September: $4.0 million
• Total spent: $261.6 million
• Spent in September: $22.8 million
• Cash on hand: $4.6 million
• Debt: $20.5 million

OBAMA VICTORY FUND 2012 (The main joint Obama/DNC fund)

• Total raised: $371.1 million
• Raised in September: $80.0 million
• Cash on hand: $45.2 million

MITT ROMNEY (Republican)

• Total raised, including transfers: $337.2 million
• Raised in September, including transfers: $76.2 million
• Total transferred from the funds jointly used by the party and the Romney campaign: $236.4 million
• Transferred in September: $34.2 million
• Total spent: $298.2 million
• Spent in September: $54.7 million
• Cash on hand: $63.1 million
• Debt: $5.0 million

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE

• Total raised: $331.2 million
• Raised in September: $48.4 million
• Total transferred in: $127.5 million
• Transferred in September: $28.6 million
• Total spent: $249.4 million
• Spent in September: $42.4 million
• Cash on hand: $82.6 million
• Debt: $9.9 million

ROMNEY VICTORY INC (Joint Romney/RNC fund - third quarter, July through Sept.)

• Total raised: $375.6 million
• Raised in third quarter: $235.2 million
• Cash on hand: $37.4 million

Appendix: SUPER PACS:
RESTORE OUR FUTURE, a Super PAC supporting Romney

• Total raised: $110.5 million
• Raised in September: $14.8 million
• Total spent: $94.9 million
• Spent in September: $4.6 million
• Cash on hand: $16.6 million

PRIORITIES USA, a Super PAC supporting Obama

• Total raised: $50.1 million
• Raised in September: $15.3 million
• Total spent: $43.6 million
• Spent in September: $12.8 million
• Cash on hand: $7.3 million

AMERICAN CROSSROADS, a Super PAC supporting Republicans

• Total raised: $68.0 million
• Raised in September: $11.4 million
• Total spent: $53.4 million
• Spent in September: $27.9 million
• Cash on hand: $15.8 million

Source: Reuters

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