Biden fund gets big donation from son of GOP donor Larry Ellison

David EllisonRepublican donor's son Larry Ellisongave 929,600 USD to support the President's re-election efforts Joe Bidenmaking him one of the top recent donors to the incumbent Democrat.

David Ellison's donation is the largest on record Skydance Media The CEO was once given to a federal candidate, according to Federal Election Commission File.

His February donation to the Biden Victory Fund tied with other large contributors in the first quarter of 2024.

Others who gave similar amounts to David Ellison that quarter included lawyer George Conway, a leading critic of the former President. Donald TrumpAnd Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz.

David Ellison's donation comes as his father, Larry Ellison, chairman of Oracle, has kept his wallet closed this election cycle.

Records show that Larry Ellison, who was previously a major Republican donor, has not made a single federal political donation so far in 2024. Ellison has donated more than $31 million to Republican candidates in the 2022 congressional midterm elections, according to data from OpenSecrets.

Charles Myers, a former vice chairman of investment bank Evercore and Biden's campaign manager, said the donation from David Ellison to support Biden was a “very big deal,” citing the relationship. sponsor's family.

“It had as much of an impact as if one of Soros's sons started writing huge checks to Trump,” Myers told CNBC, referring to Democratic megadonor George Soros.

Biden's allies have applied full-court press to hire David Ellison, as the president's political team tries to build a campaign war chest large enough to effectively fight the presumptive nominee. Republican Trump in the presidential election.

The move is aimed at winning David Ellison's support – and his large donations – largely staged by Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg.

The source said Katzenberg was Biden's campaign co-chairman and that his efforts to woo David Ellison as a supporter included arranging a meeting with Biden.

David Ellison, in December, attended a private roundtable discussion in Los Angeles that featured Biden and less than a dozen other attendees including 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 for the event and that the attendees were “not necessarily” all major donors to Biden, but declined to comment further.

David Ellison donated to the Biden Victory Fund after the event at Rappaport's house.

According to Federal Election Commission records, the Biden Victory Fund funds the Biden campaign, the Democratic National Committee and dozens of state parties. Rappaport gave $929,600 to that fund last July, according to FEC records.

FEC filings show that David Ellison's donation helped the Biden Victory Fund raise more than $121 million in the first quarter of 2024. A similar pro-Trump organization called Trump Save America raised more than $65 million that quarter.

Biden is trailing Trump by one percentage point in the latest public opinion from the New York Times and Siena College poll.

Larry Ellison endorsed Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., in his presidential bid but did not contribute to his campaign. He is currently reported is trying to sell Scott to Trump's team as the former president's running mate.

While the Ellison family may be on different sides of the 2024 election, the two are working on a major media deal together.

David Ellison's Skydance Media recently made an offer to acquire National Amusements and merge with Paramount Pictures. Larry Ellison, whose reported net worth is over $149 billion, is Plan to support the fund proposed deal, CNBC reports, citing sources.

A spokesman for David Ellison declined to comment. Katzenberg and the Biden campaign did not respond to requests for comment.