With Democratic candidate Kamala Harris conceding defeat and extending her congratulations to Republican Donald Trump on November 6, America's contentious 2024 presidential election has reached its conclusion.
Yet, beyond the barrage of personal attacks and policy clashes, one aspect has left the public reeling—the astronomical amount of cash poured into this election.
Record-breaking campaign spending in 2024
According to data from the nonprofit OpenSecrets, the 2024 election cycle is set to become the costliest in U.S. history, with spending projected to reach nearly 16 billion USD. Adjusted for inflation, this record surpasses all but the 2020 election, underscoring the steep rise in campaign costs.
With each election, the financial stakes climb higher, marking American elections as a fierce competition not only for votes but also for funding.
(Source: OpenSecrets)
Who's paying for the election?
Reports from Bloomberg and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) reveal that more than 11,000 political groups contributed to the 2024 race, from billionaires' political action committees (PACs) like those linked to Elon Musk, to smaller, specialized interest groups.
Remarkably, 99 percent of all political spending came from entities that contributed over 100,000 USD each, pointing to a consolidation of influence among a small group of ultra-wealthy donors.
(Source: Bloomberg)
Billionaire involvement in U.S. elections has reached unprecedented levels, according to Axios, transforming the campaign arena into a 'new battleground' for America's wealthiest families and "shattering campaign finance records."
Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) recently reported that 150 billionaire families invested a combined 1.9 billion USD to back presidential and congressional candidates—a 58 percent increase from the 1.2 billion USD contributed by 600 billionaires in 2020.
The concentrated power of wealth in politics
The ATF report highlights how the influence of billionaire donors is concentrated: the top ten families alone contributed over 953 million USD, nearly half the total donations by billionaires. Eight of these families primarily supported Republican candidates, while two favored Democrats.
(Source: Americans for Tax Fairness)
Despite the staggering figures, billionaire spending on politics is likely underreported. "Dark money" channels and anonymous contributions obscure the original sources, with significant amounts unaccounted for in public records.
For example, The New York Times recently disclosed that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates anonymously donated 50 million USD to a pro-Harris group—a contribution that did not appear in official filings. Such opaque donation routes enable billionaires to influence elections while remaining largely hidden from public scrutiny.
"Billionaire campaign spending on this scale drowns out the voices and concerns of ordinary Americans," says David Kass, executive director of ATF. With campaign finance boundaries all but erased, Axios reports, billionaires are openly shaping America's democracy.
In this new reality, money talks—and its voice is the loudest. Ordinary Americans may cast their votes, but it is the billionaires who are increasingly setting the agenda.
Reporter | Liu Xiaodi, Wang Tianyu (intern)
Cover photo | CFP
Editor | Yuan Zixiang, James, Shen He
