Republican megadonor Jeff Yass and his inner circle have given tens of millions of dollars in recent years to shape federal policy, education and legal matters, according to records reviewed by CNBC.
A poker-playing, libertarian billionaire, Yass is the largest individual donor to federal candidates this election cycle, with more than $46 million so far in contributions, according to data from the nonpartisan OpenSecrets. Since 2017, Dantchik has given over $150 million to the organization, according to the records. The group's paperwork is held at the Sterling Foundation Management firm in Virginia, over 150 miles away from Susquehanna International.The Susquehanna and Claws foundations have been entirely seeded over the past decade by contributions from Yass, his wife and other allies linked to Susquehanna.
The Susquehanna Foundation, for instance, received over $250 million in 2020 from the"Susquehanna Growth Equity Fund III," according to the records. Dantchik and Yass are both listed as directors of the Claws Foundation. They are also held the titles of president and vice president, respectively, for the Susquehanna Foundation at the end of 2022.
But Yass does not plan to donate to Trump's campaign, a Yass spokesperson later told The New York TImes. Almost half of this total came from a $3 million gift from the Susquehanna Foundation in 2022, the year Yass was named vice chairman of Cato's board.