The explosive demise of crypto giant FTX, led by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, may have an outsized impact on politics — snuffing out the wealth of a budding potential Democratic megadonor.
Bankman-Fried was the second-largest Democratic donor this election cycle by a longshot, according to the most recently available campaign finance data from the Federal Election Commission, second only to philanthropist George Soros.
He donated more than $39.7 million to primarily Democratic causes during the 2022 federal election cycle, including six-figure checks to the Democratic National Committee and the Senate Democrats' main super PAC, as well as $6 million to the super PAC leading Democrats' efforts to hold the House.
The only Democratic donor to give more last cycle was philanthropist George Soros, whose $129 million dwarfed Bankman-Fried's.
In fact, Bankman-Fried about as much as Democrats this cycle than each of the next-largest Democratic donors combined — Illinois businessman Fred Eychaner and Indiana philanthropist Deborah Simon.
But while Bankman-Fried had mused about the idea of spending hundreds of millions of dollars — perhaps even a billion dollars — on the upcoming presidential election, those predictions may be in jeopardy based on the latest developments
Before the downfall of his cryptocurrency exchange, Bankman-Fried joined "Meet the Press Reports" for a special episode on America's wealthiest political donors, where he outlined his hope to "support great public servants." He had said his goal was to "do this in a bipartisan way," but this cycle had given 90% of his money toward Democratic causes.
