Politics
Visualized: The Biggest Donors of the 2022 U.S. Midterm Elections
Visualized: The Biggest Donors of the 2022 U.S. Midterm Elections
This year’s midterm election is expected to set a new spending record, with over $9 billion being raised. This is significantly higher than the previous record of $7 billion, which was set in 2018.
According to a recent analysis by the Washington Post, $1 billion of these funds can be attributed to the top 50 donors. In typical Visual Capitalist style, we’ve illustrated this data to provide you with better insight.
Overview of the Data
The following table lists the top 10 individual donors of the 2022 midterm elections.
| Rank | Name | Affiliation | Total Donation (USD millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | George Soros | Democrat | $129 |
| #2 | Elizabeth & Richard Uihlein | Republican | $70 |
| #3 | Kenneth Griffin | Republican | $66 |
| #4 | Jeffrey Yass | Republican | $48 |
| #5 | Sam Bankman-Fried | Democrat | $39 |
| #6 | Stephen Schwarzman | Republican | $33 |
| #7 | Timothy Mellon | Republican | $33 |
| #8 | Larry Ellison | Republican | $31 |
| #9 | Peter Thiel | Republican | $30 |
| #10 | Patrick & Shirley Ryan | Republican | $27 |
Sorting this top 10 donor list by party, we can see that $168 million was raised for the Democrats, and $338 million for the Republicans.
Continue reading below for some interesting background info on all 10 of these individuals. Net worth values were gathered from Forbes on November 1, 2022.
George Soros (Net worth: $7B)
George Soros is a Hungarian-born American billionaire, widely known for his philanthropical efforts and for “breaking” the Bank of England. He has had an illustrious career as a hedge fund manager, founding Soros Fund Management in 1970. Visit this page to see the top 100 holdings of Soros Fund Management’s portfolio.
Soros has donated over $30 billion of his fortune to various causes and charities. He is the founder and chairman of two Super PACs (political action committees) named Democracy PAC and Democracy PAC II.
Unlike regular PACs, Super PACs face no limits in terms of fundraising or political spending.
Elizabeth & Richard Uihlein (Combined net worth: $7B)
Elizabeth & Richard Uihlein are the founders of Uline, one of North America’s largest distributors of logistics supplies (boxes, tape, gloves, etc.). The company makes several billion in sales per year.
The couple have gained media attention for making substantial donations to the Republican party. According to Forbes, the Uihleins have donated a total of $194 million since the 1990s.
Kenneth Griffin (Net worth: $31B)
Kenneth Griffin is the founder and CEO of Citadel, a hedge fund based in the U.S. He also owns Citadel Securities, which is the largest market maker on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Market makers act as a middleman in financial markets by facilitating buy and sell orders for investors. Using equities (stocks) as an example, when a market maker receives an order from a buyer, it sells shares from its own inventory. This enables the stock market to run smoothly.
Griffin found himself in the spotlight during the GameStop short squeeze when his firm provided emergency funding to Melvin Capital Management.
Jeffrey Yass (Net worth: $30B)
Once a pro gambler, Jeffrey Yass is a cofounder of Susquehanna International Group (SIG), a successful trading firm based in Philadelphia. SIG specializes in quantitative research and trading, which involves the use of computer algorithms to identify opportunities.
Yass is frequently cited as the richest person in the state of Pennsylvania and has gained media attention for his large political contributions.
Sam Bankman-Fried (Net worth: $17B)
Sam Bankman-Fried is the founder and CEO of FTX, which is currently the world’s third largest cryptocurrency exchange behind Binance and Coinbase. The company is based in the Bahamas and offers trading in more than 300 cryptocurrencies.
In May 2022, Bankman-Fried declared that he was willing to donate “north of $100 million” in the upcoming 2024 presidential election. He has since backtracked this comment.
At some point, when you’ve given your message to voters, there’s just not a whole lot more you can do.
– Sam Bankman-Fried
Stephen Schwarzman (Net worth: $35B)
Stephen Schwarzman is the chairman and CEO of The Blackstone Group, a globally recognized private equity firm. Blackstone’s portfolio of companies includes Ancestry.com, a well-known family history service, and Bumble, a popular online dating platform.
Shown below, Schwarzman’s wealth has increased substantially since 2020.
The bulk of Schwarzman’s political contributions have gone towards the Senate Leadership Fund, an independent Super PAC which aims to build a Republican Senate majority.
Timothy Mellon (Family net worth: $11B)
Timothy Mellon was the chairman and majority owner of Pan Am Systems, a privately held company with operations in transportation, manufacturing, and energy. In November 2020, CSX Corporation announced it had signed an agreement to purchase Pan Am. The sale was approved in April 2022.
Mellon made headlines in 2021 when it was revealed that he made a whopping $53 million donation to the Texas border wall fund. At the time of reporting, this represented 98% of total funding.
Larry Ellison (Net worth: $102B)
Larry Ellison is the chairman and cofounder of Oracle, one of the world’s largest software companies. Oracle is listed on the NYSE and has a market cap of over $200 billion. Ellison was also a Tesla board member from December 2018 to August 2022.
The vast majority of his political contributions have gone towards the Opportunity Matters Fund, which supports candidates who promote the Opportunity Agenda. It calls for enhanced financial literacy, apprenticeships, and education options.
Peter Thiel (Net worth: $4B)
Peter Thiel is a successful entrepreneur and venture capitalist, perhaps best known for cofounding PayPal. He also cofounded Palantir Technologies, a data analytics company, and is a general partner of Founders Fund, a venture capital firm with investments in major names such as SpaceX.
Thiel is one of the Republican Party’s largest donors, a position that sets him apart from many other Silicon Valley figures. In February 2022, it was reported that he would be stepping down as a Meta board member.
Patrick and Shirley Ryan (Patrick’s net worth: $9B)
Patrick Ryan is the founder and retired CEO of AON Corporation, one of the world’s largest insurance companies. In 2010, he founded another company known as Ryan Specialty Group, which provides services to insurance brokers.
Together with his wife Shirley, the Ryans have made large donations towards the Senate Leadership Fund and other Republican groups.
Maps
Visualizing the BRICS Expansion in 4 Charts
We provide a data-driven overview of how the recent BRICS expansion will grow the group’s influence and reach.
Visualizing the BRICS Expansion in 4 Charts
BRICS is an association of five major countries including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Distinguished by their emerging economies, the group has sought to improve diplomatic coordination, reform global financial institutions, and ultimately serve as a counterbalance to Western hegemony.
On Aug. 24, 2023, BRICS announced that it would formally accept six new members at the start of 2024: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In this graphic, we provide a data-driven overview of how the BRICS expansion will grow the group’s influence and reach.
Share of Global GDP
Because most of the new BRICS members are considered to be developing economies, their addition to the group will not have a major impact on its overall share of GDP.
The following table includes GDP projections for 2023, courtesy of the IMF.
| Original BRICS Member | Country | GDP (USD billions) | Share of Global (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 🇧🇷 Brazil | $2,081 | 2.0% |
| Yes | 🇷🇺 Russia | $2,063 | 2.0% |
| Yes | 🇮🇳 India | $3,737 | 3.6% |
| Yes | 🇨🇳 China | $19,374 | 18.4% |
| Yes | 🇿🇦 South Africa | $399 | 0.4% |
| No | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | $1,062 | 1.0% |
| No | 🇮🇷 Iran | $368 | 0.4% |
| No | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | $156 | 0.1% |
| No | 🇪🇬 Egypt | $387 | 0.4% |
| No | 🇦🇷 Argentina | $641 | 0.6% |
| No | 🇦🇪 UAE | $499 | 0.5% |
| - | BRICS Total | $30,767 | 29.3% |
| - | Rest of World | $74,362 | 70.7% |
The original six BRICS members are expected to have a combined GDP of $27.6 trillion in 2023, representing 26.3% of the global total. With the new members included, expected GDP climbs slightly to $30.8 trillion, enough for a 29.3% global share.
Share of Global Population
BRICS has always represented a major chunk of global population thanks to China and India, which are the only countries with over 1 billion people.
The two biggest populations being added to BRICS are Ethiopia (126.5 million) and Egypt (112.7 million). See the following table for population data from World Population Review, which is dated as of 2023.
| Original BRICS Member | Country | Population | Share of Global (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 🇧🇷 Brazil | 216,422,446 | 2.7% |
| Yes | 🇷🇺 Russia | 144,444,359 | 1.8% |
| Yes | 🇮🇳 India | 1,428,627,663 | 17.8% |
| Yes | 🇨🇳 China | 1,425,671,352 | 17.7% |
| Yes | 🇿🇦 South Africa | 60,414,495 | 0.8% |
| No | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 36,947,025 | 0.5% |
| No | 🇮🇷 Iran | 89,172,767 | 1.1% |
| No | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | 126,527,060 | 1.6% |
| No | 🇪🇬 Egypt | 112,716,598 | 1.4% |
| No | 🇦🇷 Argentina | 45,773,884 | 0.6% |
| No | 🇦🇪 UAE | 9,516,871 | 0.1% |
| - | BRICS Total | 3.7 billion | 46.0% |
| - | Rest of World | 4.3 billion | 54.0% |
It’s possible that BRICS could eventually surpass 50% of global population, as many more countries have expressed their desire to join.
Share of Oil Production
Although the world is trying to move away from fossil fuels, the global oil market is still incredibly large—and BRICS is set to play a much bigger role in it. This is mostly due to the admission of Saudi Arabia, which alone accounts for 12.9% of global oil production.
Based on 2022 figures from the Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy, BRICS’ share of oil production will grow from 20.4% to 43.1%.
| Original BRICS Member | Country | Thousand Barrels per Day | Share of Global (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 🇧🇷 Brazil | 3,107 | 3.3% |
| Yes | 🇷🇺 Russia | 11,202 | 11.9% |
| Yes | 🇮🇳 India | 737 | 0.8% |
| Yes | 🇨🇳 China | 4,111 | 4.4% |
| Yes | 🇿🇦 South Africa | 0 | 0.0% |
| No | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 12,136 | 12.9% |
| No | 🇮🇷 Iran | 3,822 | 4.1% |
| No | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | 0 | 0.0% |
| No | 🇪🇬 Egypt | 613 | 0.7% |
| No | 🇦🇷 Argentina | 706 | 0.8% |
| No | 🇦🇪 UAE | 4,020 | 4.3% |
| - | BRICS Total | 40,454 | 43.1% |
| - | Rest of World | 53,394 | 56.9% |
It’s worth noting that China has been pushing for oil trade to be denominated in yuan, and that Saudi Arabia’s acceptance into BRICS could bolster this ambition, potentially shifting the dynamics of global oil trade.
Share of Global Exports
The last metric included in our graphic is global exports, which is based on 2022 data from the World Trade Organization. We can see that the BRICS expansion will grow the group’s share of global exports (merchandise trade) to 25.1%, up from 20.2%.
| Original BRICS Member | Country | Exports (USD billions) | Share of Global (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 🇧🇷 Brazil | 334 | 1.3% |
| Yes | 🇷🇺 Russia | 532 | 2.1% |
| Yes | 🇮🇳 India | 453 | 1.8% |
| Yes | 🇨🇳 China | 3,594 | 14.4% |
| Yes | 🇿🇦 South Africa | 123 | 0.5% |
| No | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 410 | 1.6% |
| No | 🇮🇷 Iran | 73 | 0.3% |
| No | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | 3.9 | 0.02% |
| No | 🇪🇬 Egypt | 49 | 0.2% |
| No | 🇦🇷 Argentina | 88 | 0.4% |
| No | 🇦🇪 UAE | 599 | 2.4% |
| - | BRICS Total | 6,259 | 25.1% |
| - | Rest of World | 18,646 | 74.9% |
Unsurprisingly, China is the world’s largest exporter. Major exporters that are not a part of BRICS include the U.S. (8.3%), Germany (6.6%), the Netherlands (3.9%), and Japan (3.0%).
Who Else Wants to Join?
According to Reuters, there are over 40 countries that have expressed interest in joining BRICS. A smaller group of 16 countries have actually applied for membership, though, and this list includes Algeria, Cuba, Indonesia, Palestine, and Vietnam.
As the group grows in size, differing opinions and priorities among its members could create tensions in the future. For example, India and China have had numerous border disputes in recent years, while Brazil’s newly elected President has sought to “kickstart a new era of relations” with the U.S.
One thing that is certain, however, is that a new acronym for the group will be needed very soon.
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