Bill Gates has donated about $50 million to help elect Vice President Kamala Harris, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
The donation was made privately to a nonprofit group called Future Forward, which is supporting Harris’ Democratic bid for president and was not meant to be made public, people familiar with Gates’ support told the Times. The mammoth figure would be a shift for the Microsoft co-founder, who has generally avoided throwing his financial might behind candidates on either side.
“I support candidates who demonstrate a clear commitment to improving health care, reducing poverty and fighting climate change in the U.S. and around the world,” he told The New York Times in a statement. “I have a long history of working with leaders across the political spectrum, but this election is different, with unprecedented significance for Americans and the most vulnerable people around the world.”
“This election is different,” he added when asked about his past history straddling both parties.
Gates has not formally endorsed Harris, but the Times added that he has told friends he is concerned about what could happen in a second Donald Trump presidency.
Future Forward is the largest super PAC in America and has raised more than $700 million, much of it through its nonprofit “dark money” arm that does not disclose its donors. Other major benefactors include former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who has given millions of dollars to the group.
Gates’ ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, has also given large donations to groups supporting Harris’ bid and described her own shift from the political sidelines in an interview with the Times earlier this month.
“Now I do get to make whatever decision I want to make about endorsing or not endorsing on my own,” she said, referring to her 2021 divorce from Gates and her decision to step down from her family foundation.
This year’s election has attracted billions of dollars in donations and brought in many of the country’s richest Americans, some who had previously vowed to stay out of politics. The most notable is tech mogul Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, who has vocally supported Trump and skirted the line of federal election laws with a million-dollar sweepstakes for residents in swing states.