Bill Ackman, Founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
Billionaire hedge fund leader Bill Ackman donated $3,300 to the campaign of Democratic anti-vaccine presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the second quarter, according to Federal Election Commission filings. .
Ackman’s donation comes days after he tweeted to endorse Kennedy’s broad vaccine skepticism.
Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital, told CNBC a few days later, “I’ve heard RFK talk on several podcasts and at City Hall, and it’s been an important conversation worth learning more about vaccines and other issues. I thought I was raising an issue,” he said. When asked at the time, he did not answer whether he had donated to Kennedy’s campaign.
Ackman is one of several prominent business leaders who donated to Kennedy’s campaign in the second quarter. The Purple Good Government PAC, a commission largely funded by investor and Elon Musk ally David Sachs, donated $6,600 to the campaign.
Ken Fisher, founder and executive chairman of Fisher Investments, donated $6,600 to the campaign, according to filings.
Veteran Wall Street executive Omid Malik also donated $6,600 to the Kennedy campaign, according to the filing. Malik is hosting a fundraiser for Kennedy in the Hamptons this month. Anthony Scaramucci’s Skybridge Capital partner Brett Messing also donated to the campaign, according to the filing.
A donor named Eric Clapton, identified as a musician with an address in the UK, donated $5,000 to Kennedy’s campaign.
It will soon be clear if the donor is the same person as Eric Clapton, the legendary British guitarist with a long history of voicing controversial views and lifting anti-vaccine and coronavirus lockdowns. It wasn’t. protest A song during the Covid pandemic. Next to the donation on the submitted documents, it says “refunded in the following period”. Federal law prohibits donations to U.S. election campaigns by foreigners.
The maximum amount an individual may contribute to support a candidate during a primary or general election season within an election cycle is $3,300. The $6,600 contribution can be split between the primary and general election accounts.
The second quarter runs from April 1st to June 30th.
A spokeswoman for Ackman declined to comment. A Sachs spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. Fisher did not respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for Clapton did not respond to a request for comment.
Sachs co-hosted an event in June with fellow tech leader Chamas Palihapitiya, which raised about $500,000. The Kennedy campaign ended up raising more than $6 million, leaving more than $4 million on hand. Neither Sachs nor Palihapitiya are listed in the campaign fundraising documents as having contributed to Kennedy’s candidacy.
Kennedy’s rival, President Joe Biden, raised more than $72 million in the second quarter.
Quinnipiac in June poll Biden has 70% support among Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, while Kennedy shows 17% support among the same group.
CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger contributed to this article.
