Microsoft founder Bill Gates has reportedly donated $50m to the Harris campaign, saying that despite his previously apolitical stance “this election is different.”
The donation was supposed to be private but the billionaire later confirmed his support to the New York Times, though he has not endorsed the vice president publicly.
“I support candidates who demonstrate a clear commitment to improving health care, reducing poverty and fighting climate change in the US and around the world,” Gates said, in a statement provided to the newspaper, which did not address the donation directly.
“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.”
Gates, whose net worth is estimated at around $105bn according to Forbes, is currently the world’s thirteenth richest person, though has said he does not want to be seen as a “political influencer.”
The reported donation comes after the tech pioneer reportedly expressed concerns over a second Trump presidency during private calls to friends and others earlier this year, though he also said he would work with either candidate.
However, Gates has previously celebrated the Biden-Harris administration’s work on climate change.
His philanthropic organization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is significantly concerned about potential cuts to family planning and global health programs if Trump is elected, according to two people close to the foundation told the outlet.
Gates – who was included on The Independent’s Climate 100 List 2024 – has long sought to hold himself above politics so that he could have credibility with both Democratic and Republican audiences and administrations, particularly those who do work in the developing world.
“I choose not to participate in large political donations,” he said in late 2019. “There are times it might feel tempting to do so, and there are other people who choose to do so, but I just don’t want to grab that gigantic megaphone.”
In a previous interview, following Harris’ entrance into the political race, the billionaire said that “you might be able to predict” whom he would support in the election but that he was not “a political influencer.”
“I don’t tell other people how to vote because I’m so associated with the foundation that works with any administration,” he said. “I think it’s great to have somebody who’s younger and can think about things like AI and how to shape that the right way.”
Meanwhile, Trump has very publicly received the backing of the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, who has spoken at his rallies and promoted the Republican candidate on his social media platform X.
