Here’s who the tech elite are throwing millions behind in the presidential election

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Oracle founder Larry Ellison

Tech moguls don’t just fund the next hot startup. Investors and entrepreneurs are throwing millions of dollars, as well as their influence, to back political candidates as well. 

Despite Silicon Valley’s reputation for liberal politics, much of the money spent this election is going to the Republican party, thanks to a few out-sized million dollar donations (many of which were for candidates that have already dropped out of the race).

Many tech bigwigs are in Hillary Clinton’s corner, but they haven’t put as much money behind her yet. Compared to the $3.5 million that Silicon Valley gave to President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign, donations to Clinton have totaled just $1.3 million so far, according to data from the International Business Times.

Here’s who is “feeling the Bern” for Bernie Sanders, who put millions behind Rand Paul’s unsuccessful run, and how many tech figures have stood behind Hillary.

Tech’s biggest donor so far, Oracle founder Larry Ellison gave $5 million to support Republican candidate Marco Rubio.

Since 2015, Ellison has given more than $5 million to the Conservative Solutions PAC, which supported Marco Rubio.

Rubio dropped out of the race on March 16, 2016 after a loss in the Florida primary.

Data center operator George Macricostas gave $2.1 million in support of Rand Paul.

George Macricostas made a fortune by building data centers since he founded Raging Wire in 2000. 

Now, Macricostas is giving some of that away to support Rand Paul. He gave $2.1 million to the America’s Liberty PAC and Concerned American Voters to support Paul’s campaign, although the Republican candidate dropped out in early February. 

Paypal founder and tech investor Peter Thiel gave $2 million to support former HP CEO Carly Fiorina’s presidential run.

Legendary investor Peter Thiel forked over $2 million to the Conservative, Authentic, Reponsive Leadership for You and for America super PAC. 

If you managed to keep up with the acronym, it stand for Carly for America — the original name of the super PAC until the FEC made them change it.

Carly Fiorina, the former HP CEO, dropped out of the presidential race on February 10, 2016. 

Angel investor Scott Banister gave over $2 million to Rand Paul before switching his support to Ted Cruz.

An early investor in companies like PayPal and Zappos, Scott Banister has also made a name for himself as a big supporter of Rand Paul. Banister has a history of supporting Paul through his senate campaigns and stepped up in a big way for his presidential run. 

Banister gave more than $2 million to the Concerned American Voters super PAC, which supports Rand Paul. 

After Paul dropped out of the race, Banister tweeted his support for Ted Cruz and has so far donated $15,000 to super PACs that support him, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Chicago venture capitalist J.B. Pritzker gave $1.9 million to support Hillary Clinton.

From the Pritzker family, venture capitalist J.B. Pritzker gave $1.9 million to the Priorities USA Action super PAC, which is known for supporting democratic candidates like Hillary Clinton. 

There’s plenty of other tech supporters who gave six figures. Former Greylock partner Howard Cox has given $500,000 to support Jeb Bush.

Now a Special Limited Partner at the VC firm he joined in 1971, Howard Cox is still doling out money. Cox gave $500,000 into the Right to Rise USA super PAC, which supported Jeb Bush.

Bush suspended his campaign on February 20.

Sean Parker put $298,000 behind Hillary Clinton, although that’s less than he’s donated previous years.

Napster founder Sean Parker used to be one of the most active political donors in Silicon Valley. In the 2014 election, Parker gave freely on both sides of the aisle to candidates. Yet, he’s given very little to the presidential election in 2016. He only had one major donation of $298,000 to the Hillary Victory Fund. 

Other leaders have come out publicly in support of candidates, but haven’t given much of their money (at least publicly) to Super PACs. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, a longtime donor to the Democratic party, endorsed Clinton.

A who’s who list of Silicon Valley execs ranging from Sheryl Sandberg to Elon Musk have made the maximum individual contribution ($2,700) to Hillary Clinton.

Tech execs, like eBay CEO John Donahoe and Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, have hosted fundraisers for Clinton. Others have made the maximum individual contribution for Clinton, including Sandberg, Musk, Box CEO Aaron Levie, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, and Vint Cerf, Chief Evangelist at Google. 

Feeling the Bern is Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak.

In August, Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak tweeted that he was down on both Republicans and Democrats. Instead, he’s feeling the “Bern” for Bernie Sanders. Despite the endorsement, he hasn’t put any money behind him, according to FEC records.

That doesn’t mean Silicon Valley isn’t supporting him. According to Crowdpac, the tech industry has donated more than $3.2 million to Sanders’ campaign. (Note: they’re only measuring donations to his campaign directly, not Super PAC donations like Ellison’s)

Jeb Bush’s visits to Silicon Valley did garner support from other tech leaders, like Yahoo CFO Ken Goldman and Kleiner Perkins partner Mary Meeker.

Kleiner Perkins partner Mary Meeker (above) gave $25,000 to Bush’s Right to Rise USA super PAC. Yahoo’s CFO Ken Goldman only donated the max personal contribution of $2,700 to Bush’s campaign. 

Usually a political force, HP Enterprises CEO Meg Whitman turned on Chris Christie after he backed Trump.

Beyond being HP’s Chairwoman and CEO of HP Enterprises, Meg Whitman also has strong ties to New Jersey governor Chris Christie. When he decided to run for president, she became the finance co-chair for his presidential campaign. 

That changed when Christie decided to back Donald Trump instead. “Chris Christie’s endorsement of Donald Trump is an astonishing display of political opportunism. Donald Trump is unfit to be president,” Whitman said in February.

She has not donated any money to support a presidential candidate thus far, according to FEC filings.

What about Donald Trump?

We couldn’t find any high-profile tech execs who have donated to Tump’s campaign, but according to Crowdpac, Trump ranked last among Presidential candidates who have raised money from the technology sector. Trump has raised only $14,000 from tech, compared to Bernie Sanders’ $3.2 million.

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