The 2024 presidential election is only days away, and several billionaire investors have weighed in on what can be expected from the matchup, including predicting who could win.
Both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have received the backing of a few multibillionaires. Yet, other high-dollar names are opting not to reveal their political support ahead of the election. As the 2024 election cycle nears its end, however, all are expecting consequences to follow the selection of the nation’s next leader
Bill Ackman
Ackman, best known for investing in Google and Chipotle, endorsed Trump’s 2024 presidential bid in July and defended his choice to support the former president during a sit-down interview Wednesday. The investor dismissed the possibility that his political endorsement could harm his connections to Google, adding that if it does, “so be it.”
During his interview, which got a bit heated at times, Ackman detailed how his support for Trump largely stems from three factors: foreign policy, immigration, and the economy. Ackman largely focused on Trump’s handling of foreign affairs, arguing the world has become notably more dangerous since he left office in 2021.
“There’s a reason why the world was a safer place — because the dictators feared Trump,” Ackman said on CNBC’s Squawk Box. “And Trump says, ‘Look, if you step into Ukraine, I’m going to bomb Moscow.’ Let’s assume he would say something like that. Putin would take that kind of thing seriously from him. He wouldn’t know whether he was serious or not.”
.@BillAckman outlines the reasons why he’s supporting @realDonaldTrump, ranging from foreign policy to leadership strength: pic.twitter.com/t5WV0tU7yn
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) October 23, 2024
Paul Tudor Jones
Tudor Jones, founder of the Robin Hood Foundation, indicated Tuesday that he is preparing for a Trump victory, though he prefaced his prediction by stating he does not have “great insights” on it. He also expressed criticism of both presidential candidates, deeming them “the two people least suited for the job” of president.
“I have moved in that direction, for sure,” Jones explained on CNBC’s Squawk Box. “It just means more inflation trades, which I’d love to get to, but I think it’s really important that we frame where we are right now, and where we are is an incredible moment in U.S. history.”
“You have to let the tax cuts expire,” says @ptj_official. “We’re going to be broke really quickly unless we get serious about dealing with our spending issues.” pic.twitter.com/Y9tcxiVQ8q
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) October 22, 2024
Unlike Ackman, Jones has chosen not to endorse one candidate over another or even reveal who he is voting for. The billionaire cited how “divided” the nation currently is while stating he has “great relations with whichever administration goes on.”
Howard Lutnick
Lutnick, the CEO and chairman of Cantor-Fitzgerald, is also the co-chairman of the Trump-Vance transition team. He clarified Trump’s plans for tariffs on other countries, a tactic the former president has pushed on the campaign trail to increase the nation’s productivity. Lutnick listed an example in which automakers in the United States are unable to sell vehicles in certain international markets, whereas these same markets can sell their cars within the U.S.
When asked about shortages that could occur in between enacting tariffs on other countries and the U.S. producing the products it typically imports from other countries, Lutnick argued one would be “correct” to predict price increases. However, he said similar products would not increase in price, listing Fiji Water and its competing water brands as an example for his argument.
“Anybody who says it’s inflation is completely wrong because the other product hasn’t gone up,” Lutnick said. “There’s only one way to get inflation: print more money and give it to all of us. When we all have more money, everything is more expensive. So here is the idea: put a tariff out, and say to the company, ‘If you come to America and you produce in America, you get a tax credit for your tariff.’”
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Ahead of the election, Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder and a Democratic megadonor, donated over $500,000 to the political action committee Women4Us. With the super PAC’s support of Harris, he is its biggest donor by far. The super PAC calls itself a cohort of “current and former Republican women” encouraging other women who lean politically right to vote against Trump.
Billionaire Elon Musk, the owner of social media platform X, has been a major advocate of Trump in the 2024 election, attempting to drive voter turnout in swing states with a daily million-dollar giveaway. The former president, meanwhile, has hinted at enlisting Musk to serve in his second presidency should he win the election, giving the billionaire the unofficial title of “secretary of cost-cutting.”
