The Biggest Companies Donating to Trump and Harris’ 2024 Campaigns — How They Impact Elections
Written by
Andrew Lisa
Edited by
Angela Corry
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On Election Day, centi-billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos get the same number of votes as you — one. However, during the campaign season run-up to Nov. 5, their voices are much, much louder than yours.
That’s because the Supreme Court’s controversial 2010 Citizens United decision determined that political contributions count as constitutionally protected speech — and the impact of that decision is driving the race to purchase the presidency in 2024.
No American corporation has donated company funds directly to the Trump or Harris campaigns. Federal law prohibits campaigns from accepting contributions directly from the treasury funds of corporations, labor organizations or national banks. Company employees can donate limited amounts as individuals, but more impactfully, companies and their billionaire CEOs can give as much as they want to affiliated political action committees (PACs) and so-called super PACs.
That indirect access to corporate wealth has helped former President Donald Trump raise nearly $382 million for his candidacy. Vice President Kamala Harris has raked in more than $1 billion since entering the race just three months ago, according to Open Secrets.
Here’s a look at how much America’s biggest companies and wealthiest CEOs are donating, which candidates and parties they favor, and how some hedge their bets and cover their bases by kicking in cash to both.
Tesla
- Harris: $56,504
- Trump: $16,810
- Total: $210,267
In the world of corporate political activity, Tesla is a virtual non-entity — at least on paper. It donated paltry five-figure sums to both presidential contenders and even less to down-ballot candidates and party campaign committees.
But as OpenSecrets points out, “The organization itself did not donate, rather the money came from the organization’s individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals’ immediate family members. Organizations themselves cannot contribute to candidates and party committees.”
The Only Tesla Employee Who Matters
In terms of donations, Tesla’s rank-and-file support Harris by a margin of more than three to one. But if money is speech, then no voice can drown out that of the richest person in the world. That person happens to be their boss, and no corporate titan has flexed his wealth and influence harder in 2024 than Elon Musk, who Forbes says is worth $268.7 billion.
OpenSecrets says Musk has funneled more than $118 million into his pro-Trump America PAC, a super PAC dedicated to mobilizing voters in crucial swing states. His all-in commitment and headline-grabbing stunts have have garnered plenty of attention, not all of it positive. CNN reports that the Philadelphia D.A. is suing Musk over a highly publicized sweepstakes that gives $1 million to a different battleground state voter every day who agreed to sign a Musk petition.
Musk has direct personal and business interests in government policies, including federal EV tax credits, transportation spending, defense and aerospace contracts, corporate oversight and social media regulation. OpenSecrets says his emergence as a principal Trump surrogate represents a sharp break from Musk’s history of making smaller contributions to both parties. It ranks Tesla and SpaceX “in the top 10% of organizations tracked by OpenSecrets for lobbying and political contributions from their affiliates.”
Amazon
- Harris: $1,233,011
- Trump: $67,847
- Total: $5,553,740
Like Tesla, Amazon’s employee donations slant toward Harris’ candidacy. Its founder, Jeff Bezos, joins Musk in the elite $200 billion club, and he similarly has high-stakes personal and corporate interests hitched to government policies and programs. His Blue Origin aerospace company is a direct rival of Musk’s SpaceX.
However, Bezos appears more inclined to hedge his bets than he is to gamble on a winning horse.
His Amazon.com PAC has donated a relatively modest $769,000, nearly evenly split, with $386,000 going to Democrats and $383,000 going to Republicans in this year’s federal elections, according to Open Secrets.
However, when you own major media platforms, the most valuable contributions aren’t always financial. Just as Musk’s detractors say he wields his X social media channel as a mouthpiece for right-wing voices, Bezos is currently in damage-control mode after he prevented his Washington Post newspaper from publishing a traditional editorial endorsement, which it was poised to give to Harris.
Netflix
- Harris: $228,490
- Trump: N/A
- Total: $15,587,066
More than 99% of the $526,819 that the Netflix rank and file gave to federal candidates in 2024 went to Democrats, but in modern politics, a half-million dollars or so is a drop in the bucket. Following a familiar trend, the real Netflix money came not from people, but from PACs.
On Sept. 30, media outlets reported that the MAGA faithful were canceling their Netflix subscriptions after the company’s chairman, Reed Hastings, announced a $7 million donation to Harris’ campaign. Fact-checkers quickly debunked those reports. Hastings — a Democratic mega-donor who the New York Times says contributed more than $20 million to party causes in the last few years alone — didn’t give $7 million to Harris. He gave it to the pro-Harris Republican Accountability PAC. That was the largest single donation ascribed to Netflix in 2024, but Democratic Senate and House PACs also enjoyed seven-figure contributions.
- Harris: $1,104,286
- Trump: $22,731
- Total: $3,660,846
More than 89% of political contributions from Meta, the parent company of Facebook, went to Democratic causes and candidates so far in 2024. Although Harris’ political campaign took top billing with more than $1.1 million — nearly one-third of all donations stemming from the company’s employees — GOP causes took the No. 2 and No. 3 spots.
Considering the substantial past contributions of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, $3.66 million is an anemic number. On Sept. 27, the New York Times reported that “Mark Zuckerberg is done with politics.” The article spelled out how Zuckerberg stopped funding the many liberal-leaning causes he has long supported with his awesome wealth. His detractors accuse him of the same thing they charged Jeff Bezos with when he pulled the Washington Post endorsement — acquiescing to intimidation from Trump. However, donations are only one way that billionaire bosses of multinational corporations pull the levers of power in their favor.
While Meta gave just $3.66 million in individual and PAC donations, it spent $13.56 million on lobbying in 2024 and $19.3 million in 2023.
Disclaimer: Unless otherwise noted, all figures are from the nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign finance transparency watchdog OpenSecrets.
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