DeSantis' presidential ambitions are in the hands of a small circle of wealthy donors

Deep-pocketed political donors have flooded Ron DeSantis’ super PAC — demonstrating his campaign’s reliance on an outside group funded by a small circle of wealthy people.

The donations — laid out Monday night in the first official filing of the Never Back Down PAC supporting the Florida governor — show DeSantis can benefit from nearly $100 million the organization had on hand as of June 30. Between Never Back Down’s deep coffers and DeSantis’ early campaign cutbacks, his operation will largely be powered by what is in essence a shadow campaign that cannot legally coordinate with the candidate.

The super PAC’s biggest single donor, Robert Bigelow, gave $20 million — accounting for more than half of the total from individual contributions Never Back Down has raised since March. Bigelow is not a new donor: He gave $10 million last summer to a Florida state PAC that DeSantis set up as governor. That account, now called Empower Parents, shifted $82.5 million to Never Back Down in May — making it the largest influx of cash.

Bigelow, who has said he would “go without food” in order to support DeSantis’ White House ambitions, cuts an enigmatic figure. A Las Vegas real estate tycoon, he poured some of his fortune into studying the possibility of life after death and has long expressed curiosity about unidentified flying objects over a ranch he owned in Utah.

Much of the money came from Florida-based business people, according to the filing that covers contributions made through June 30, including real estate developer Jay Odom, who gave $400,000 to Never Back Down. Odom was indicted in 2013 over a straw donation scheme supporting 2008 candidate Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign.

Other major contributions to the PAC include $2 million each from Stefan Brodie, the founder of a Pennsylvania chemical company; and Douglas Leone, managing partner of Sequoia Capital; as well as $1 million each from Saul Fox, a major GOP donor and collector of Israeli antiquities;

David Millstone, co-CEO of Standard Industries; and Elizabeth and Richard Uihlein, the longtime GOP donor power couple.

DeSantis' reliance on big-dollar donors is contrast with the small-dollar prowess of former President Donald Trump, but those aligned with DeSantis highlight their advantages.

“Every conversation at the door, every text message reply is making us smarter and more efficient. We are running a full-scale operation that has never been done before at this level by either party. Donald Trump is using most of his donors’ money to cover his legal fees. This isn’t close," said Chris Jankowski, CEO of Never Back Down.

But while DeSantis has drawn from a wide cross-section of the GOP donor class, several prominent GOP megadonors who have given to DeSantis in the past have yet to contribute to Never Back Down.

Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin, who has reportedly soured on Trump and is looking for a different Republican to back this cycle, was absent on the Monday night release. Griffin’s associates recently told the Financial Times the executive is frustrated by DeSantis’ positions on international relations and teaching about gender and sexuality as well as his ongoing fight with Disney.

Jeff Yass, one of the wealthiest people in the world and an early investor in TikTok, didn’t continue his financial support of DeSantis through Never Back Down, according to the filing. Yass had contributed $2.6 million to the Florida governor’s state committee earlier this year. Yass did, however, donate to two PACs backing other GOP presidential candidates this year: $600,000 over several months to Opportunity Matters Action Fund, which backs Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, and $250,000 in June to Tell It Like It Is, which supports former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Though the DeSantis campaign cannot legally coordinate with its aligned super PAC, the two entities often overlap on the campaign trail. Never Back Down spent $33.7 million through the end of June as it effectively morphed into an arm of the campaign — even hosting DeSantis on recent bus tours through Iowa. DeSantis’ campaign, by contrast, spent $7.9 million between his launch in May and the end of June.

Never Back Down spent $4 million on canvassing, $1.5 million on polling and $1 million on payroll — examples of how it is beginning to pay for standard campaign activities.

And as the DeSantis campaign sheds staff en masse as a cost-cutting measure to shore up his campaign’s finances, Never Back Down is considering picking up some of the axed employees.

CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to include David Millstone's proper title.