Democratic mega donor Tom Steyer sunk more than a half-a-million dollars into Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s various luxury resorts, financial records show.
Steyer, who earned the bulk of his wealth as the hedge fund manager for Farallon Capital Management, reported a $558,000 investment in the gambling and hospitality company that operated the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J., according to records from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
His investment was disclosed in a 2006 report by hedge fund Farallon to the SEC.
The former hedge fund manager turned environmentalist will have spent more than $75 million on this year’s election when all the dust settles. Much of his efforts have gone toward registering millennials to vote, mostly on environmental issues, and for the purposes of opposing Trump’s presidential run.
Steyer has so far shoveled more than $56 million into elections on the local, state, and national level, according to Opensecrets.org. Nevada casino owner Sheldon Adelson has donated the second most amount of money this election year, dumping $47 million on Republican candidates.
Trump finally attacked Steyer at a rally last month in Florida, charging that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has received millions of dollars from wealthy donors “who want to shut down American energy altogether.”
“Radical activists like Tom Steyer have promised to spend more than $70 million this election to get Clinton and Democrats like her elected,” Trump told an] audience in Panama City. “In return, Clinton wants to shut down energy production all across the United States. Wait until you see your energy bills.”
The billionaire philanthropist has made keeping Trump from the White House his sole mission this election. Steyer has called the real estate tycoon “dangerous” in many of his campaign ads.
Farallon has more than 100 employees responsible for making investment decisions, Steyer spokesman Gil Duran told reporters, adding the well-heeled politico should receive credit for contributing a much of his wealth to philanthropy.
“Tom Steyer signed the Giving Pledge, left his business in 2012, and dedicated himself full-time to fighting back against powerful special interests like oil companies and tobacco companies, as well as bullies like Donald Trump,” Duran said in a statement.
The environmentalist has compared himself to David in a David and Goliath-like fight against Trump and others, and said his contribution is different from those made by the Koch brothers or fellow Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who bankrolls many Republican political candidates.
Steyer, who is also rumored to be exploring a run for California gubernatorial seat in 2018, plows most of his considerable political donations through the political action group, NextGen Climate Action, which spent about $20.7 million in independent expenditures in 2014 opposing Republican candidates.
His money accounts for nearly 100 percent of NextGen’s entire political war chest, a number totaling more than $7,000,620. Steyer has given the group $7,000,000.
Steyer focuses the bulk of his campaigning on seven swing states, from Pennsylvania to Ohio to Nevada. The swing state push, Steyer said, is part of NextGen’s $25 million initiative to engage young people and “awaken our sleeping progressive giant.”
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