Tech and finance moguls are putting money and weight behind Trump with a brain Ron DeSantis – Fortune

It was early afternoon in late July, and Carson Jorgensen was waiting in a decadent restaurant at the St. Regis hotel in Park City, Utah, along with a group of donors and business leaders, for the guest of honor to arrive.

Right on time, Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida whose star has risen rapidly over the past couple of years, appeared and efficiently worked through a photo line, before addressing the room over salads and chicken at lunch in the hotels RIME restaurant. With the majestic Rocky Mountains in the background, the group had assembled for the second of a pair of fundraising events for DeSantis in Utah in late July, raising money for his 2022 gubernatorial reelection campaign. Jorgensen, who serves as chair of the Utah Republican Party, recounts that the event was composed of some upper-class donors in dressed-up casual attire, as it was a more expensive fundraiser, he estimated (tickets to the lunch event reportedly went for $5,000 a pop). DeSantis spoke for about half an hour, Jorgensen remembers, touching on topics such as pushing back against supposedly woke corporations such as Disney, and how he opened up the economy in Florida during the pandemic.

Its DeSantiss unabashed pro-business, antipolitical correctness stances, combined with just enough of former President Donald Trumps pugnaciousness, that have earned him admiration among some of Floridas increasingly powerful tech and finance set, some of whom wager he could ride the wave all the way to the White House in 2024.

The governor has amassed a wealthy crowd of donors in recent years: His supporters include billionaires like hedge fund Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin, hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones, packaging materials tycoon Richard Uihlein, and Home Depot cofounder and former CEO Bernie Marcus, who have all donated to DeSantiss political action committee Friends of Ron DeSantis within the past two years. DeSantiss new largest donor is hotel mogul and aerospace entrepreneur Robert Bigelow, who chipped in a whopping $10 million in July. All told, DeSantis has raised a hefty $172 million as of Aug. 19, per OpenSecrets, a group that tracks political contributions. And though the Utah fundraiser was hosted to solely support DeSantiss reelection campaign in Florida, attendees discussed his potential 2024 presidential aspirations, recalls Jorgensen. Hes done a lot of things right, Citadel CEO Griffin said of DeSantis onstage at the Milken Institute Global Conference in May, also noting that he is unquestionably one of the forerunners in the Republican primary today. Griffin has been a top DeSantis donor, giving $5 million to the governor in 2021.

Though DeSantis hasnt announced plans to run for president yet, hes emerged as the principal challenger to Trump, whos heavily teased a potential 2024 bid. Most recent polls show Trump with a sizable lead over DeSantis (the latest Politico/Morning Consult poll conducted between Aug. 19 and Aug. 21 showed Trump with a 39-point lead over DeSantis, the second-highest-ranking candidate), though DeSantis handily beats others in the hypothetical running.

But while DeSantis himself has developed a reputation for sparring with the press and issuing forceful and controversial opinions on everything from transgender athletes to his dislike of masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, his biggest backers are largely keeping mum about whether they think hell mount a run in 2024or if theyd support him. Fortune reached out to more than a dozen of these (in fairness, sometimes tight-lipped billionaires) about DeSantis and they either didnt return requests for comment or declined to speak on the record; DeSantiss campaign also didnt respond to multiple requests for an interview.

It will be some time before DeSantis would hypothetically announce a 2024 bidhes still zeroed in on the 2022 gubernatorial race in Florida. And without any candidates having yet thrown their hat in the ring for the 2024 presidential race, there are plenty of unknowns. But its clear that whether or not DeSantis would be among them, the Florida governor has garnered powerful and fervent backing from some of the biggest finance and tech playersnot only in Florida, but in other parts of the country as wellfor his immoderate, and often Trumpian, stances on controversial issues. Through his actions and words, hes fueling that set of business leaders who think ESG investing is a joke; who dont believe companies should be weighing in on social issues, or what DeSantis considers anti-wokeness; and those who believe the economy should be a top, if not the top, priority.

Whatever happens in 2024, DeSantis is influencing the conversation leading up to that race.

Despite his tendency to take on the Establishment, DeSantis himself boasts a classic Ivy League rsum. He spent much of his childhood in Dunedin, Fla., where he played Little League baseball, then attended college at Yale University, where he was captain of the varsity baseball team. After graduating he went on to graduate from Harvard Law School.

Prior to politics, DeSantis served in the U.S. Navy as a legal adviser, and following active duty, as a federal prosecutor. In his earlier political career, he was a congressman for Florida from 2013 until 2018. He registered further on the national radar when former President Trump endorsed him for governor in the 2018 election, a decision Trump reportedly made after seeing DeSantis speak on Fox News.

But it wasnt really until the pandemic that DeSantiss star began to rise: With the surge of Silicon Valley and Wall Street transplants flocking to Florida in search of zero state income tax and an open state during lockdowns, he capitalized on the attention for eschewing public health guidelines and mandates regarding COVID-19 to focus on keeping businesses open during the early days of the pandemic. His controversial COVID stance has been a selling point for some in the business milieu, including some who spoke with Fortune, who perceive him as being particularly pro-business.

More recently, DeSantis has drawn scrutiny for some of his controversial policies, including the highly criticized bill prohibiting public school teachers from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity with students in kindergarten through third grade, dubbed by opponents as the Dont Say Gay bill. He has also taken a harder stance on abortion, recently suspending a Tampa-area elected state attorney who promised not to enforce the states new abortion law following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Some of the business and entrepreneurial crowd who moved to the state over the past couple of years praise the way DeSantis has governed. One such transplant, Bryan Goldberg, founder and CEO of Bustle Digital Group (BDG), which operates media sites including Bustle, W Magazine, and Gawker, moved to Florida during the pandemic, and thinks DeSantiss track record of prioritizing businesses staying open over public health mandates makes him appealing: Hes a person who put the economy first, Goldberg recently told Fortune. He argues that after the past couple of years, its not just Floridanational sentiment has swung favorably toward DeSantiss performance as governor. But as to beyond 2022, thats a different question, Goldberg says. (Goldberg donated $1,000 to DeSantiss reelection campaign in July, per DeSantiss PAC records.)

DeSantiss agenda against what he considers wokeness resonates with entrepreneurs like Goldberg: I think businesses need to stay out of politics. Thats the lesson from the Disney debacle: CEOs are not elected officials, he told Fortune. In recent years, CEOs have sent press releases and communications to employees about various social and political issues, as Goldberg puts it. Thats wrong. Thats bad. CEOs have one job, and that job is to run their company effectively, he argues. (When asked about that stance regarding issues that affect employees, like abortion and the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Goldberg said he was not talking about any particular issue.)

Others, like Citadel CEO Griffin, think DeSantis went too far in picking a fight with Disney. DeSantis went after the entertainment titans status as a special tax district following the companys criticism of DeSantiss Parental Rights in Education law or, colloquially, the Dont Say Gay bill, and Griffin believed the move could look like retaliation from DeSantis.

Notwithstanding some of DeSantiss stances, like targeting Big Tech, which he has attacked over what he calls social media censorship, Florida has become a hotspot for Silicon Valley and Wall Street expats seeking a more business-friendly state to set up shop. Large companies from financial titan Citadel to Elliott Management Corp. have moved their headquarters to Florida in the past couple of years, alongside asset management firm ARK Investment Management, run by infamous investor Cathie Wood (Wood has historically been a Trump supporter, but declined to comment to Fortune regarding her thoughts on candidates for the next election).

DeSantis has, however, taken aim at the investment management industryspecifically deriding ESG-focused investing, which takes into account environmental, social, and governance factors, in a ban for State Board of Administration (SBA) fund managers to consider ESG when investing. But those like longtime venture investor and PayPal mafia alum Keith Rabois of VC firm Founders Fund, whos based in Miami, arent put off: ESG investing is a fraud, he opined to Fortune, so if politicians want to reflect our views, were certainly not going to be opposed to that.

The Florida governor gives off this vibe that this is a great place to build a business. That is the main thing that I think people are excited about, Edward Lando, managing partner at early-stage investment and incubation firm Pareto Holdings, based in Miami, told Fortune (Though he lives in Florida, Lando is a French citizen and isnt eligible to vote in the U.S.). Among his circles, Lando says theres chatter about DeSantis, and he contends its much less controversial to say that you think DeSantis is an interesting candidate than Trump.

Venture investor and outspoken conservative Rabois is, like others, still hedging: Obviously, everybodys just waiting to see who runs. Theres no reason to make a decision until you know who the candidates are, he said. However Rabois said hed be excited about either DeSantis, Florida Senators Marco Rubio or Rick Scott, or Miami Mayor Francis Suarez as the next president, arguing any of those would have a lot of support across the board from tech and business community leaders in Florida. Outside the state, he singled out former governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton as top-tier candidates, though he isnt sure if theyd run, and declared, I dont think many business leaders that I know are interested in supporting Trump.

The biggest policies Rabois is focused on moving forward include U.S. competition with China; small-business and education recovery from the pandemic; and the anti-tax and anti-regulation base of Florida that promotes business and successful jobs, he says. Theyre among a portfolio of issues he argues DeSantis can use to contrast himself with others. But among his VC and startup circles, Rabois admits, We dont talk about this stuff. Im too busy.

Beyond homegrown Floridians, Silicon Valley and the tech community did not have a high opinion of President Trump. I dont expect that to change in the future, nor do I expect the Miami tech scene to receive him much more warmly, argues BDGs Goldberg. The stream of tech and finance transplants into Florida has brought with it a crowd who, according to Goldberg, would consider both parties, though he believes most Floridians and the tech crowd will favor DeSantis. Issues like abortion rights are important to the tech group, Goldberg suggests, where DeSantis would likely have to tread a careful line: Of the hundreds of thousands who have journeyed to Florida to start a new life, theyre not coming here in hopes of finding fewer rights, he suggests.

But clearly, its one thing to run a stateits another thing to run a country, notes Eric Levine, a longtime GOP fundraiser and attorney. A lot of people would want to know more about his economic vision.

Despite the support the governor has garnered from big-time donors, one possible reason for the general silence on 2024 rumors is the upcoming midterm elections this fallwhere Republicans hope to take control of the Senate and the House. Levine, the GOP fundraiser and attorney, argues its hard to know whether or not people are not coming out because they dont want to cross Trump, or whether or not, like myself, [they] want to stay focused on the midterm elections. Indeed, numerous reports suggest members of the Republican Party are concerned about Trump announcing a 2024 bid before November, though Trump is now reportedly considering waiting until after the elections.

But regardless if donors are saying it out loud yet, in terms of the zeitgeist, media attention, and polling, DeSantis has emerged as the key candidate to battle it out with Trump for the next election. I think part of the reason why DeSantiss name comes up [for 2024] is everyones heard of him, Levine told Fortune. Theres a little bit of a flavor of the month because its name recognition at this point, he suggests. Hes fighting with Disney; hes fighting with [White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony] Fauci; hes fighting with [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom.

But even in the face of Trumps worldwide notoriety, Levine, for one, doesnt believe media attention is enough to cut it. You always have these front-runnersI mean, Hillary Clinton, what happened to her in 2008? Or Jeb Bush in [20]16? Who had higher name recognition and more money than Jeb Bush? he argues. Theres a difference between name recognition at the very beginning of the process, and at the end of the day, you know, who youre going to vote for.

Certainly its not a two-person race just yet: Levine, for one, says hes heard the names of Arkansas Sen. Cotton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Governor of South Carolina Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott tossed around for 2024 (theyre polling far below DeSantis thus far).

And even in spite of the investigation into Trump over the Jan. 6 insurrection and the recent FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago as part of an investigation into alleged mishandling of classified documents, Trumps popularity among Republicans is still undeniableeven if, by some polls, the percentage of Republicans who think he should run again has waned somewhat.

Indeed, Trumps former White House communications director and SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci, who has long been a vocal critic of DeSantis, told Fortune back in June that he didnt think DeSantis stood a chance at beating Trump, arguing that Trump would end up killing DeSantis, Scaramucci opined at the time. Trump is a jealous guy, he argued. Hell damage him politically, metaphorically. Scaramucci added that while Trump may not actually become the Republican nomineeon the way to not becoming the Republican nominee, I think hes gonna destroy DeSantis.

Those like Utah Republican Party chair Jorgensen wager if Trump runs, hes got the grass-roots folks still. He believes the political crowd see DeSantis as everything you get from Trump without the mean tweetsor, as the New Yorker noted in a recent profile, Trump with a brainbut argues Trump is still a champion amongst the people. Indeed, Trump proponents tout that he still has formidable grass-roots support. Trumps Save America PAC (which is reportedly being probed by a federal grand jury regarding Jan. 6) had roughly $99 million in cash on hand at the end of July (though reports say that money cant be used for a 2024 campaign, and Trump is already facing accusations that hes broken campaign laws in raising money while waiting to announce a 2024 run).

Youre seeing a lot of people sit back and see what pans out, because I think theres some people who want to support Trump that are a little leery of it, Jorgensen theorizes. There are also people who want to support DeSantis, but none of them dare stick their head outbecause its a pretty dangerous place to be.

Back in Utah earlier this summer, as the attendees of the gubernatorial fundraiser mingled, the topic of the next presidential election was on the tip of tonguesbut even at DeSantiss own event, Jorgensen remembers some attendees bringing up another name in conversations about who theyd be interested in for 2024: Trump.

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Tech and finance moguls are putting money and weight behind Trump with a brain Ron DeSantis - Fortune