Episode
Here’s How Billionaires Are Spending Money To Influence The 2026 Midterms
- Podcast
- Forbes Topline
- Published
- Apr 19, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 211
- Processing state
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- https://traffic.megaphone.fm/FSML9251510672.mp3
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Summary
Federal Election Commission filings for the first quarter of 2026 showed that billionaires Miriam Adelson and George Soros were the biggest donors backing GOP and Democratic super PACs, respectively, ahead of this year’s midterms, while billionaire Marc Andreessen’s venture capital firm poured $25 million into a pro-artificial intelligence Super PAC. KEY FACTS According to the filings published on Wednesday night, GOP megadonor Adelson donated $30 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, the major super PAC backing Republican Senate candidates. Filings made by the GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund—which backs GOP House candidates—showed Adelson had given the super PAC $10 million, bringing her overall contribution to $40 million so far this year. Billionaire George Soros, one of the biggest backers of Democratic candidates, donated $50 million to his Democracy PAC in January through an associated group, the Fund for Policy Reform. The Democracy PAC then donated $9 million to Senate Majority PAC—which backs Democratic Senate candidates. FORBES VALUATION According to Forbes’ Real Time Billionaire’s list, Adelson’s total fortune is worth $37.3 billion, making her the 58th richest person in the world. In comparison Soros’ net worth stands at $7.5 billion as of Thursday morning. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT FUNDING FROM SILICON VALLEY ?Leaders from Silicon Valley launched the pro-AI super PAC Leading the Future in August last year, with venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz among its main backers. Wednesday’s filings showed that the venture firm donated $25 million to the political action committee, with $12.5 million each coming from co-founders Benjamin Horowitz and billionaire Marc Andreessen. BIG NUMBER $27 million. That is how much Democratic Texas Senate Candidate J…