00:00After emphasizing bipartisanship and staying away from big political donations for decades,
00:05Bill Gates recently donated about $50 million to the non-profit arm of a super PAC
00:10supporting Kamala Harris, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
00:15Gates' donation went to Future Forward through its Dark Money affiliate,
00:19a non-profit that doesn't have to disclose its donors,
00:22but can, in turn, donate to the Future Forward PAC.
00:26Gates had intended to keep the donation a secret, per the New York Times,
00:30and told the Times that he has, quote,
00:32"...a long history of working with leaders across the political spectrum,
00:35but this election is different, with unprecedented significance for Americans
00:39and the most vulnerable people around the world."
00:43Gates is far from the only billionaire to do so.
00:47Forbes found 13 other billionaires who've donated to the same super PAC, Future Forward.
00:52Five of them have done so since Harris announced her candidacy at the end of July.
00:57They include Facebook co-founder and Asana CEO Dustin Moskovitz,
01:01Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings,
01:04blockchain billionaire Chris Larson,
01:06private equity titan Jim Coulter,
01:09and Hyatt Hotels heir Daniel Pritzker.
01:12Altogether, the 13 billionaires have donated $50 million to Future Forward this election cycle.
01:19Future Forward is a somewhat non-traditional super PAC,
01:22in that it spends most of its funding surveying Americans
01:25and using the results to test, create, and air political ads
01:29via an unusually heavy focus on data analysis.
01:33The PAC has conducted more than 4 million voter surveys since Harris entered the race,
01:37but party strategists have raised criticism that there's too much money behind one group
01:42with a singular belief in late campaign ads,
01:44and not enough funding for on-the-ground efforts to get people to vote,
01:48the New York Times reported.
01:51For more on this story, check out Phoebe Liu's article in the link in the description.
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