Topline
Elon Musk and hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin appear to have donated $100,000 each to a GoFundMe set up to support the victims and families of those injured or killed in a shooting at a Donald Trump rally Saturday that killed one person and left several with injuries, including the former president.
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign event in … [+]
AFP via Getty ImagesKey Facts
The fund, created two days ago by Meredith O’Rourke, the finance director of the Trump campaign, has raised $4.7 million—several times its $1 million goal.
Major donors to the campaign include Musk ($100,000); Griffin ($100,000); billionaire casino mogul Steve Wynn ($50,000); Florida Gov. Rick Scott and his wife, Ann ($50,000); the conservative Heritage Foundation ($50,000); UFC President Dana White ($50,000); Kid Rock ($50,000); former Republican presidential nomination contender Vivek Ramaswamy ($30,000); Ben Shapiro ($15,000) and the conservative news website Shapiro founded, the Daily Wire ($15,000).
The fundraising page claims to have been authorized by Trump and will support those wounded or killed in Saturday’s “brutal and horrific assassination attempt.”Griffin on Sunday called the attempted assassination of Trump a “tragic and disturbing day in America” and denounced political violence, calling Americans “fortunate to have the right to peacefully resolve our political differences by casting our votes.”
Griffin, the founder of the Miami-based hedge fund firm Citadel, has donated to conservative causes and candidates in the past, including Trump’s chief 2024 primary rival former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, but has so far refrained from donating to Trump’s 2024 campaign.
In May, he said he was waiting to see who Trump chooses to run as his vice presidential running mate before deciding whether to donate (Trump on Monday announced Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, as his running mate).
Representatives for Griffin Catalyst, the philanthropic civic engagement initiative founded by Griffin last year, did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment Monday.
Ken Griffin of Citadel photographed by Aaron Kotowski for Forbes in March 2022.
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Forbes Valuation
Griffin is worth an estimated $38 billion as of Monday and is ranked by Forbes as the world’s 40th-richest person. In additional to his hedge fund, he founded Citadel Securities in 2002, which has since become one of the largest market-making firms in the world, responsible for one of every five stock trades in the U.S. He has donated more than $2 billion to philanthropic causes, and the graduate school of arts and sciences at Harvard, his alma mater, bears his name.
Key Background
Shots were fired at Trump on Saturday as he spoke at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump can be seen on video ducking behind a podium before being swarmed by Secret Service agents, who then escort the former president off stage as he pumps his fist in the air with blood visible on the side of his face. Trump’s injuries were minor, but one supporter was shot and killed, and two others were seriously injured. The suspected shooter, a 20-year-old named Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by Secret Service agents. Authorities have not yet discovered a motive for the attack. In the wake of the shooting, several billionaires stepped up to express support for the former president or echo calls for a deescalation of campaign rhetoric and condemn political violence. Tesla founder Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, tweeted, “I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery.” Amazon founder Jeff Bezos praised Trump for showing “grace and courage under literal fire” and several others issued statements decrying the violence, including Mark Cuban, Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg and Marc Benioff.
Further Reading