From Fracking to Finance, a Torrent of Campaign Cash – The New York Times

The super-affluent throw tens of millions of dollars into candidate and “super PAC” coffers, seeking to influence the 2016 presidential race.

From Fracking to Finance, a Torrent of Campaign Cash

By ERIC LICHTBLAU and NICHOLAS CONFESSOREOCT. 10, 2015
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WASH.

Each dot represents

a family of donors.

Mont.

Me.

N.D.

Joe and Marlene Ricketts, owners of the Chicago Cubs, gave $5 million to Scott Walker’s organization.

Minn.

Vt.

Ore.

N.H.

Boston

New

York

Wis.

Idaho

Detroit

Mass.

S.D.

Conn.

Mich.

Wyo.

New York

area

N.J.

Iowa

Pa.

Chicago

Nev.

Philadelphia

Ohio

Neb.

MD.

Ind.

San Francisco

area

Fort Collins

Ill.

Utah

Robert Mercer, hedge-fund magnate, contributed $11 million to the super PAC backing Ted Cruz.

Columbus

Colo.

W. Va.

Kan.

St. Louis

Va.

The Wilks family, fracking-business billionaires, donated $15 million in support of Ted Cruz.

Mo.

KY.

CaliF.

Branson

N.C.

Tenn.

Ariz.

Okla.

Ark.

N.M.

Los Angeles

area

S.C.

Little Rock

Atlanta

Dallas

Ala.

Ga.

Miss.

La.

Midland

Texas

Baton Rouge

Hong

Kong

Fla.

Palm Beach area

San Antonio

Houston

Puerto

Rico

Miami
Sources: F.E.C. and I.R.S. filings; voter registrations; property assessment and deed records; corporate filings. One primary house per family is shown.
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A look at some of the business, personal and ideological ties that bind megadonors in the 2016 presidential campaign.
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The Frackers

The great American energy boom of the last decade has produced a wave of new billionaires and multimillionaires. Now they are throwing tens of millions of dollars into the presidential campaign, with the biggest checks going almost exclusively to Republicans and their “super PACs.” The top donors include Trevor Rees-Jones, who left a law practice in Dallas and turned $4,000 in savings into an energy empire as the head of Chief Oil and Gas; Dan and Farris Wilks, abortion opponents whose trucking and equipment business struck gold in the fracking boom; and Karen Buchwald Wright, the head of Ariel Corporation, an Ohio manufacturer of gas compressors.
Old Oil
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Two of the donors live on Indian Creek Island Road in Florida, the most expensive street in the United States, according to Zillow.
Buying Power: The Families Funding the 2016 Presidential ElectionOCT. 10, 2015

Established Texas oil families are deeply involved in the campaign, too. Descendants of the late gambler and oil speculator H.L. Hunt – once thought to be the richest man in America – account for at least $2.3 million in donations in this presidential campaign. Mr. Hunt’s fortune, feuds and multiple marriages are the stuff of legend: In the late 1970s, two of his sons reputedly tried to corner the silver market, and some say the Hunts inspired the classic television series “Dallas.” At least three of his descendants have followed his path in Republican politics in the 2016 campaign. Among them is Ray Lee Hunt, the sole surviving Hunt heir with enough wealth to make the Forbes list of billionaires. (Mr. Hunt is No. 92 in the United States.) The family business, Hunt Oil, remains among the largest privately held oil companies in the country. Mr. Hunt and his wife have put more than $2 million behind Mr. Bush.
Hedge Fund Partners, Political Opposites

They may disagree on politics, but they earned fortunes together. The hedge fund investor George Soros, who earned $1 billion in a bet against the British pound in 1992, is a prominent liberal donor and philanthropist who has given $1 million to a super PAC backing Hillary Rodham Clinton. His partner on that trade was Stanley F. Druckenmiller, who would become a prominent hedge fund manager in his own right, and is now close to Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a Republican. Mr. Druckenmiller is a strong advocate of reduced spending on entitlement programs, which he has called “current seniors stealing from future seniors.” He has put a total of more than $300,000 behind Mr. Christie, Jeb Bush and Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio.
Mystery Money

Some of the largest donations came from donors whose backgrounds and occupations were difficult to determine from public records. A man named Chen Shu Te gave $500,000 to Right to Rise USA, a super PAC backing Mr. Bush, which told the Federal Election Commission that Mr. Chen lives in Hong Kong. But public records reveal almost nothing about him, or even if he is an American citizen. (Green card holders may contribute, but other foreign nationals may not.) Hundreds of thousands of dollars in other contributions came from limited liability corporations whose ownership is unclear. Among them is TH Holdings L.L.C., which shares a New York City office suite with Neuberger Berman, an investment management firm headed by a cousin of Mr. Bush’s. More than a dozen of the firm’s other employees or executives have given to Mr. Bush’s campaign or the super PAC, but under their own names.

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Dallas Royalty

The Preston Hollow neighborhood, home to former President George W. Bush and other leading Dallas Republicans, accounts for nearly $13 million of the money flowing to the presidential candidates and their super PACs. Much of it went to help Jeb Bush, who has leveraged his family and political connections in both Florida, where he was governor, and Texas, where his brother George held the same office. But some of the neighborhood’s biggest donors backed Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, who has since dropped out of the race. The Dallas pipeline owner Kelcy Warren gave a super PAC supporting Mr. Perry’s committee $6 million, while another neighbor, Darwin Deason, pitched in $5 million.
The Moneyed Left

Many of the biggest donors to Mrs. Clinton’s super PAC have ties to the Democracy Alliance, a club that has strived to build a “progressive infrastructure” of left-leaning think tanks, activist groups and grassroots organizations. They include Mr. Soros, a founding member of the alliance; a fellow hedge fund investor, S. Donald Sussman; and Stephen M. Silberstein, a San Francisco-area programmer who made his fortune developing library computer systems. Mrs. Clinton is also backed by Amy Goldman Fowler, a philanthropist and heiress to a New York real estate fortune, and Patricia A. Stryker, one member of an influential group of Colorado progressive donors known as “the Gang of Four.”
The Top Early Donors in the Presidential Race
Wilks Family
$15.0 million

The Wilks family of Texas — brothers Farris and Dan and their spouses, Jo Ann and Staci — earned billions in the fracking boom.
Mercer Family
$11.3 million

Robert Mercer, a Wall Street hedge fund magnate, and his daughter, Rebekah Mercer.
Toby Neugebauer
$10.0 million

Co-founder of a private equity firm and son of Representative Randy Neugebauer, Republican of Texas.
Kelcy Warren
$6.0 million

Dallas billionaire and chief executive of an energy company.
Ricketts Family
$5.1 million

Joe Ricketts founded the online brokerage TD Ameritrade and is the patriarch of the family that owns the Chicago Cubs.
Deason Family
$5.0 million

Darwin Deason is a Dallas-based billionaire who made his fortune by selling a data processing company to Xerox.
Diane Hendricks
$5.0 million

Co-founder of a Wisconsin-based roofing company.
Norman Braman
$5.0 million

Billionaire auto dealer in Florida, and a longtime patron of Marco Rubio.
Fernandez Family
$3.1 million

Miguel “Mike” Fernandez built a series of health care services firms and now runs a private equity company.
Ronald M. Cameron
$3.0 million

Chief executive of the agribusiness giant Mountaire.
Larry Ellison
$3.0 million

Former chief executive of Oracle Corporation.
Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein
$2.7 million

Owners of a Wisconsin packaging supply company, Mr. Uihlein also is descended from a founder of the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co.
Benjamin León
$2.5 million

Health care executive and owner of Besilu stables.
Hunt Family
$2.3 million

Heirs to the late oil billionaire H. L. Hunt.
Jeffrey S. Yass
$2.3 million

Executive of the Susquehanna International Group, an investment company.
Richard D. and Nancy Kinder
$2.0 million

Mr. Kinder is executive chairman of a Houston pipeline company; Mrs. Kinder is president of the Kinder Foundation
Rooney Family
$2.0 million

Family of Francis Rooney, a longtime supporter of the Bush family and owner of Manhattan Construction Group.
Saban Family
$2.0 million

The billionaire media investor Haim Saban and his wife, Cheryl, a philanthropist.
McNair Family
$2.0 million

Family of Robert C. McNair, owner of the Houston Texans in the N.F.L.
Ansary Family
$2.0 million

Hushang Ansary, a Houston businessman and former Iranian ambassador to the United States, and his wife, Shahla.
Rees-Jones Family
$2.0 million

The oil billionaire Trevor D. Rees-Jones and his wife, Jan.
Cohen Family
$2.0 million

The hedge fund billionaire Steven A. Cohen and his wife, Alexandra.
Perlmutter Family
$2.0 million

Isaac Perlmutter is chief executive of Marvel Entertainment.
Donald J. Trump
$1.8 million

Presidential candidate, second-generation real estate developer and entertainer.
Len Blavatnik
$1.8 million

A Russian-born American citizen who is the richest man in Britain, according to Forbes.
Perenchio Family
$1.7 million

A. Jerrold Perenchio, former chairman of Univision, and his wife, Margaret.
Bernard Marcus
$1.6 million

Co-founder of Home Depot.
William E. Oberndorf
$1.5 million

Founding partner of SPO Partners, an investment firm.
Helen Schwab
$1.5 million

Wife of Charles R. Schwab, the brokerage company founder.
Scott Banister
$1.3 million

Technology entrepreneur and investor.
Buchwald Wright Family
$1.2 million

Karen Buchwald Wright, chief executive of an Ohio natural gas-compressor manufacturing company, and her husband, Tom Rastin.
Thomas H. Lee
$1.2 million

Private equity and leveraged-buyout pioneer.
Robert A. Day
$1.1 million

Grandson of the founder of Superior Oil and a longtime Bush family fund-raiser.
George Macricostas
$1.1 million

Nevada-based businessman and technology entrepreneur.
Gregory W. Wendt
$1.1 million

Equity portfolio manager.
Julian Robertson
$1.1 million

Founder of Tiger Management, a hedge fund.
Charles B. Johnson
$1.0 million

Financier and part-owner of the San Francisco Giants baseball franchise.
Soros Family
$1.0 million

Family of George Soros, billionaire philanthropist and hedge fund investor.
Gary Chouest
$1.0 million

President of Louisiana shipping company.
James L. Robo
$1.0 million

Mr. Robo gave $2,700; NextEra Energy, where he is chairman and chief executive, made corporate contributions of more than $1 million.
Katzenberg Family
$1.0 million

Family of Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive of DreamWorks Animation.
Thomas F. Stephenson
$1.0 million

Silicon Valley venture capitalist.
Paul Fireman
$1.0 million

Reebok founder and owner of a Nevada ranch.
Johnson Family
$1.0 million

Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets, and his mother, Betty.
Al Hoffman Jr.
$1.0 million

Retired Florida developer who served as ambassador to Portugal under President George W. Bush.
Brad Freeman
$1.0 million

Chairman of a California private equity firm.
Abrams-McGrath Family
$1.0 million

The film director J.J. Abrams and his wife, Katie McGrath.
Leslie H. Wexner
$1.0 million

Chairman and chief executive of L Brands (formerly Limited).
Stephen M. Silberstein
$1.0 million

Co-founder of a company that develops data systems for libraries.
Steven Spielberg
$1.0 million

Film director and co-principal of DreamWorks.
Herbert M. Sandler
$1.0 million

Founder, with his late wife, Marion, of Golden West Financial, the giant California savings and loan bought by the Wachovia Corporation in 2006.
Ronald O. Perelman
$1.0 million

Billionaire businessman and art collector.
Raul Rodriguez
$1.0 million

Founder of a home medical equipment company.
Louis Moore Bacon
$1.0 million

Founder of the hedge fund Moore Capital Management.
S. Donald Sussman
$1.0 million

Founder of Paloma Partners, a hedge fund in Greenwich, Conn.
Jay Schottenstein
$1.0 million

President of the real estate company Schottenstein Management.
Christopher Cline
$1.0 million

Billionaire coal mogul.
Bush Family
$827,220

The Republican candidate Jeb Bush and family, including two ex-presidents, his father, George, and his brother George W.
David E. Shaw
$802,700

Computer scientist and hedge fund founder.
Willis J. Johnson
$800,000

Founder of Copart, a vehicle auction website.
Douglas L. Foshee
$765,400

Chairman and chief executive of Sallyport Investments; former chief executive of El Paso Corp.
Buchan Family
$755,400

Duke Buchan III, founder of the hedge fund Hunter Global Investors, and his wife, Hannah.
Patricia A. Stryker
$755,300

Heir to medical supply company fortune.
Daniel Gilbert
$750,000

Founder of Quicken Loans.
Duchossois Family
$710,600

The horse racing magnate Richard L. Duchossois and his children.
Kvamme Family
$700,000

Venture capital executives.
Lawrence F. DeGeorge
$600,000

Financial advisory executive.
Troutt Family
$570,800

Kenny A. Troutt, founder of a long-distance phone company, and his wife, Lisa.
Muneer Satter
$560,400

Chicago investor and former Goldman Sachs executive.
Stern Family
$552,800

Marc Stern is chairman of the TCW Group, a Los Angeles-based asset management firm.
Simons Family
$533,100

Family of James H. Simons, founder of the hedge fund Renaissance Technologies.
Fayez Sarofim
$529,563

Founder of Houston investment firm.
Morton S. Bouchard
$525,000

President and chief executive of an oil barge company.
Jackson Family
$552,000

Owners of Jackson Healthcare LLC.
Herschend Family
$513,672

Family that owns Herschend Family Entertainment, a theme park operator.
Peter and Julianna Holt
$510,000

Principal owners of the N.B.A.’s San Antonio Spurs.
Leone Family
$505,400

Doug Leone is partner in the venture capital firm Sequoia Capital.
Roberto Mignone
$505,000

Founder of Bridger Management, a hedge fund.
Daniel Loeb
$502,700

Hedge fund manager and activist investor.
John L. Nau
$502,700

Chief executive of Silver Eagle Distributors.
S. Javaid Anwar
$500,000

Pakistan-born founder of a West Texas energy company.
Howard E. Cox Jr.
$500,000

Partner at Greylock, a venture capital firm.
Philip H. Geier Jr.
$500,000

Former chairman and chief executive at the Interpublic Group of Companies.
Joseph Plumeri
$500,000

Former chief executive of the insurance broker Willis Group Holdings.
Rex A. Sinquefield
$500,000

An early pioneer of index funds, now retired and active in Missouri politics.
James A. Rubright
$500,000

Retired chairman and chief executive of Rock-Tenn Company, a manufacturer of consumer packaging.
John P. McConnell
$500,000

Chairman and chief executive of a steel company.
Micky Arison
$500,000

Chairman of the cruise operator Carnival Corporation and owner of pro basketball’s Miami Heat.
Bruce S. Sherman
$500,000

Co-founder of Private Capital Management.
Ted E. Schlein
$500,000

Senior partner at the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Peter Karmanos
$500,000

Co-founder of Compuware.
Robert D. Walter
$500,000

Founder of Cardinal Health.
Chen Shu Te
$499,137

A retiree living in Hong Kong — but public records reveal little else about him.
The Goldman Family
$455,400

John D. Goldman, a San Francisco insurance executive, is a son of the late philanthropist Richard N. Goldman.
Fox Family
$450,000

Founders of Harbour Group, a St. Louis-based investment firm, and longtime Bush family allies.
R. William Becker
$450,000

Owner of Peace River Citrus Products.
Manoj Bhargava
$400,000

Founder of 5-hour Energy drinks.
Ezratti Family
$400,000

Family of Itzhak Ezratti, president of G.L. Homes of Florida.
Galvin Family
$370,400

Heirs to the Motorola fortune.
Lincoln Chafee
$364,356

Candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Jenkins Family
$362,700

Family behind the grocery retailing chain Publix Super Markets.
Buckley Family
$361,000

Walter W. Buckley, founder of a Bethlehem, Pa., investment management firm, and his wife, Marjorie.
William C. Edwards
$350,000

Venture capital executive.
Kojaian Family
$321,223

Family behind Kojaian Management Corp., a real estate investment firm based in Michigan.
Stephen M. Lessing
$315,263

Partner for Aqueduct Capital Group and former George W. Bush fund-raiser.
Feingold Family
$313,900

Owners of a dental benefits company.
Fanjul Family
$313,500

Florida sugar barons, led by four brothers born in Cuba.
Stanley F. Druckenmiller
$313,376

Investor and hedge fund manager.
John W. Childs
$310,800

Florida-based founder of a Massachusetts-based private equity firm.
Lee Roy Mitchell
$308,500

Chairman of Cinemark, a chain of movie theaters.
Siegel Family
$305,500

Media investors.
Kenneth C. Griffin
$305,000

Hedge fund manager ranked as the richest man in Illinois.
Kohler Family
$305,000

Heirs to Kohler manufacturing fortune.
John C. Cushman III
$302,700

Chairman of Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate firm.
Manuel Moroun
$300,000

Detroit businessman and owner of the Ambassador International Bridge, the only privately-owned border crossing between the U.S. and Canada.
Victor F. Ganzi
$280,000

President and chairman of the board of the P.G.A. Tour.
Hillary Rodham Clinton
$278,821

Candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.
C. Boyden Gray
$277,700

Washington lawyer and conservative activist.
Linda McMahon
$276,400

Former professional wrestling executive, who spent close to $100 million on two failed Senate bids in Connecticut.
Thomas Patrick
$275,000

Chairman of asset management firm.
Byron Trott
$265,179

Former Goldman Sachs banker.
Tichenor Family
$264,831

Children of the late McHenry Tichenor Sr., a media mogul and pioneer of Spanish-language radio.
David B. Miller
$262,700

Co-founder of a private equity firm that focuses on the oil and gas industry.
G. Brint Ryan
$260,000

Chief executive of tax services firm.
Abessinio Family
$260,000

Owners of Roch Capital, a Pennsylvania-based investment firm.
Thomas F. Petway III
$259,700

Insurance executive.
Alexander Navab
$258,272

Executive at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the New York-based private equity firm.
James C. Flores
$255,400

Oil executive.
Brandon T. Steele
$255,400

Financial services executive.
Marc Nathanson
$255,400

Founder of Falcon Cable.
James Pugh
$255,400

Chairman and chief executive of Epoch Residential, a luxury construction company.
Scott T. Ford
$255,200

Arkansas commodity executive.
Thomas L. Corr
$255,000

Head of a petroleum distributor.
John M. Angelo
$255,000

Co-founded an investment firm.
Amy P. Goldman
$252,700

The daughter of the late Sol Goldman, a wealthy New York real estate investor, Ms. Goldman has written three books about growing heirloom fruits and vegetables.
Robert Tuttle
$252,700

Beverly Hills car dealer.
Jeffery Hildebrand
$252,700

Founder of oil and natural gas exploration and production company.
John A. Gunn
$252,700

Chairman emeritus of Dodge & Cox.
Jonathon Jacobson
$252,700

Hedge fund founder.
Kenneth M. Garschina
$252,700

Founder of a New York hedge fund and longtime backer of Rand Paul.
Glenn Creamer
$252,700

Private equity investor.
Roger C. Altman
$252,700

Investment banker who served as deputy secretary of Treasury during the Clinton administration.
Robert J. Bishop
$251,500

Hedge fund founder.
Kenneth G. Langone
$250,000

A founder of Home Depot and longtime supporter of Chris Christie.
David Tepper
$250,000

One of the highest-earning hedge fund founders in the country, specializing in distressed assets.
Tracy W. Krohn
$250,000

Auto racing enthusiast and founder of W&T Offshore, and independent oil and natural gas company.
Richard T. Farmer
$250,000

Founder of Cintas Corp.
Barrett A. Toan
$250,000

Former chief executive of a mail-order pharmacy company.
Dicke Family
$250,000

Owners of Crown Equipment Corp.
Roger Penske
$250,000

Founder and chairman of Penske Corp.
McMahon Family
$250,000

Owners of Miller & Long Real Estate in Bethesda, Md.
Fred Cunningham II
$250,000

Investor.
George M. Rapier
$250,000

Chairman and chief executive of WellMed Medical Management.
Wolfe Family
$250,000

Former owners of The Columbus Dispatch.
Art E. Favre
$250,000

Founder of Performance Contractors.
The Lipsky Family
$250,000

New Jersey hospital owners.
Robert E. Murray
$250,000

Republican activist and chief executive of an Ohio coal mining company.
Ben Nash
$250,000

Co-founder of PCS Wireless.
Sources: F.E.C. and I.R.S. filings; voter registrations; property assessment and deed records; corporate filings.

Graphics and additional research by Wilson Andrews, Kitty Bennett, Jeremy Bowers, Sarah Cohen, Amanda Cox, Chase Davis, Alicia DeSantis, Ken Schwencke, Derek Watkins and Karen Yourish

Karen Yourish and Sarah Cohen contributed to this report.

Find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via Facebook, Twitter and the First Draft newsletter.

Source: From Fracking to Finance, a Torrent of Campaign Cash – The New York Times