Tech mogul and top White House advisor Elon Musk donated more than $291 million to Republican candidates, political action committees and other outside spending organizations in the 2024 election cycle. While he was, by far, the biggest political donor, he was not the only person to contribute more than $100 million, according to analysis by OpenSecrets. 

The top six political donors — Musk, banking scion Timothy Mellon, casino owner Miriam Adelson, shipping supplies magnates Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, hedge fund CEO Kenneth Griffin, and trading firm co-founder Jeffrey Yass and his wife Janine — all gave $100 million or more, and all supported Republican candidates and causes.

The seventh biggest donor was hedge fund CEO Paul Singer ($66.8 million), another Republican supporter. He was followed by the top donors to Democrats: politician and businessman Michael Bloomberg ($64 million) and entrepreneur Dustin Moskovitz ($51 million).

While most of the top donors showed clear preferences for either Democrats or Republicans, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz (co-founders of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz) focused their giving on a pro-crypto group that supported and opposed candidates from both parties.

Notably missing from the list of top contributors is Democratic megadonor George Soros, who did not crack the top 100 in 2023-24 after being the top donor in 2022. But, the Soros-funded 501c(4) Fund for Policy Reform did give $60 million to the super PAC Democracy PAC, which in turn distributed that money among a number of other left-leaning super PACs.  

All of the top donors took advantage of rules allowing unlimited contributions to super PACs, which are intended to support or attack candidates without directly coordinating with any campaigns, although those restrictions have been tested in recent elections.

For example, Musk gave $1 million in fully disclosed “hard money” and $290 million to outside groups. Blomberg gave $753,000 in hard money while donating $63.6 million to outside groups.

“The massive amount of money being spent by individuals to influence elections underscores the importance of disclosure,” said Hilary Braseth, executive director of OpenSecrets. “This information matters no matter which side of the aisle you sit on. In order to hold elected officials accountable, Americans need to understand who is funding elections and those donors’ motivations. By making this list, and a half-billion other records, available, OpenSecrets is continuing its critical mission of providing comprehensive data and tools to create a more vibrant, representative and responsive democracy. ”

See the entire list of top 100 donors, and a breakdown of how the money was contributed, at OpenSecrets.