Biden fund gets big donation from son of Republican megadonor Larry Ellison

Original Article:

Source: Link

David Ellison, CEO of Skydance Media attends the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton on January 07, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. David Ellison, the son of Republican megadonor Larry Ellison, gave $929,600 to back the reelection efforts of President Joe Biden, putting him among the top recent donors to the incumbent Democrat. David Ellison's donation is the largest recorded contribution that the Skydance Media CEO ever made to a federal candidate, according to Federal Election Commission records. His contribution in February to the Biden Victory Fund is tied with other large contributors in the first quarter of 2024. Others who gave the same amount as David Ellison in that quarter include the attorney George Conway, who is a leading critic of former President Donald Trump, and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz. David Ellison's donation comes as his father, Larry Ellison, the chairman of Oracle, has kept his wallet firmly shut this election cycle. Larry Ellison, who historically has been a major Republican donor, has not made a single federal political donation so far in 2024, records show. Ellison donated more than $31 million to GOP candidates during the 2022 congressional midterms, according to data from OpenSecrets. Charles Myers, the former vice chairman at investment bank Evercore and a Biden campaign bundler, said the donation from David Ellison to support Biden is a "very big deal," citing the donor's family ties. "It's as impactful as if one of the Soros sons started writing huge checks to Trump," Myers told CNBC, referring to Democratic megadonor George Soros. Biden's allies made a full-court press to recruit David Ellison, as the president's political team tries to build a campaign war chest large enough to effectively battle the presumptive Republican nominee Trump in the presidential election. The move to gain David Ellison's support — and his big donation — was largely orchestrated by Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, who was granted anonymity to discuss private matters. Katzenberg is co-chair of Biden's campaign, and his efforts to land David Ellison as a backer included arranging a meeting with Biden, the source said. David Ellison, in December, attended a private roundtable discussion in Los Angeles featuring Biden and fewer than a dozen other attendees that included wealthy donors, the source said. That event was held at the home of Kurt Rappaport, a real estate investor and Biden donor. Rappaport told CNBC that he invited a "small group of friends" to his home to attend the event and those in attendance were "not necessarily" all major Biden financiers, but declined to comment further.