Meet the Billionaire Boosting Trump’s Campaign With a $50 Million Donation

Timothy Mellon, a billionaire who was born into one of the wealthiest families in the U.S., has donated $50 million to the Trump campaign super-pac Make America Great Again Inc., according to federal filings released on Thursday. Mellon’s contribution is now considered to be the largest disclosed individual donation in the 2024 election.

Mellon, 81, previously served as the chairman of Pan AM Systems Inc., a private manufacturing and transportation company. This year, he plans to release a memoir about his experience as chairman, published by Skyhorse Publishing, titled panam.captain.

According to the federal documents, Mellon made his donation on May 31, 2024, just one day after Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies by a New York state court in a landmark hush-money trial. Mellon has also donated at least $20 million to the campaign of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent candidate in the 2024 presidential election, according to the BBC.

TIME has reached out to the Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. campaigns for comment and further information.

A billboard, pictured here on Feb. 9, 2024, in Michigan, was launched by the Democratic National Committee to highlight how Robert F. Kennedy's Super PAC was reportedly receiving millions from Donald Trump's largest donor, Timothy Mellon. Emily Elconin—Getty Images

According to Forbes, Mellon is the great-grandson of Thomas Mellon, an Irish immigrant who came to the U.S. in 1818. Thomas was a lawyer and judge who invested his money in various real estate projects and banking. By the time of his death, he had amassed a large fortune, which was inherited by his sons. Today, the Mellon family is worth approximately $14.1 billion, making them the 34th richest family in America.

Meanwhile, the Biden campaign has also received some hefty donations recently. The Washington Post reported that billionaire Michael Bloomberg donated $19 million to the Future Forward or FF PAC, a pro-Biden political action committee. The billionaire also donated an additional $929,600 to another organization called the Biden Victory Fund.