Yahoo Finance 10 of the most prominent business leaders who want Trump elected
With just days until the presidential election, Republican candidate Donald Trump has garnered considerable attention from US business leaders.
Some, like billionaire Mark Cuban, have spoken out against Trump, while others like Peter Thiel are enthusiastically backing the Republican candidate. Here’s a look at 10 of the most prominent business people backing Trump.
Steve Forbes
Steve Forbes, chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, officially voiced his support for the Republican candidate in a July interview with CNN’s Poppy Harlow.
“Well, I’ve said always that I would endorse the Republican nominee, and he’s about to become that,” Forbes told Poppy Harlow on “New Day.”
Forbes admitted that he and Trump do not always see eye to eye on international and domestic policy, but also thinks the opposing party gets it wrong.
“I made it very clear I disagree with him on immigration — we’re not going to deport 11 million people — and on tariffs,” he told Nick Gillespie on Reason TV in August. “But the key thing is those things that I do disagree with…on the Democrats’ side they’re just as bad.”
Carl Icahn
Billionaire Carl Icahn has publicly supported Trump since his candidacy was in its infancy, with Trump even offering his the position of Treasury Secretary. In a short video he posted on his website in September called “Danger Ahead,” Icahn said that America needs a president “that could move Congress.”
“Maybe he’s brash, but he’s willing to say what he believes,” Icahn said in the video. “The middle class guy who’s making $50,000 a year realizes ‘I’m being taken advantage of.’”
Icahn praised Trump for his plan to end carried interest that allows hedge fund investors to pay a lower tax rate. He also finds his outsider status appealing to voters who he says are fed up with 30 years of no tax change.
“You have this movement to a guy like Donald Trump because you want somebody who’s not beholden to an establishment,” Icahn said.
Peter Thiel
Pay-pal (PYPL) co-founder and multi-billionaire Peter Thiel gave his case for supporting Trump at a recent speech to the National Press Club.
“No one would suggest that Donald Trump is a humble man,” Thiel told the crowd, acknowledging criticism over his language on Twitter and in recently released “Access Hollywood” video. “But the big things he’s right about amount to a much-needed dose of humility in our politics.”
Thiel also defended Trump’s constituency as those unsatisfied with the Obama administration.
“It’s not a lack of judgment that leads Americans to vote for Trump,” he said. “We’re voting for Trump because we judge the leadership of our country to have failed.”
Rupert Murdoch
It took a while for this media mogul to come around to the Trump Train.
The owner of The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post had originally been a vocal critic of a Trump presidency, tweeting “Trump finally loses it” when the candidate likened competitor Ben Carson to a child molester and “When is Donald Trump going to stop embarrassing his friends, let alone the whole country?” last summer.
New York Magazine’s Gabriel Sherman got the scoop in may that Murdoch intends to “fully back Trump in the general election against Hillary Clinton.”
The New York Post, which once displayed “Don Voyage” on its front page, issued an endorsement of Trump in April while the Wall Street Journal’s editorial team has continued to historically abstain.
From his tweets, it’s clear that Murdoch’s support has derived from his desire for the Republicans to mend a disjointed party.
“If he becomes inevitable, [the] party would be mad not to unify,” Murdoch tweeted in March.
John Paulson
Hedge fund titan John Paulson is hedging his bets on a Trump presidency. Trump named Paulson, the founder of investment firm Paulson & Co. who made fortunes betting against subprime mortgages that led to the financial crisis, to his economic policy team in August.
Paulson has shown his support by hosting a large fundraiser for the candidate in New York City last summer. Trump has shown his support for Paulson by investing in his funds as of last July.
Steve Wynn
Casino owner and business rival Steve Wynn (WYNN) held back support of Donald Trump for most of his candidacy. In August, Wynn told Bloomberg News that he believed both parties have made incredible promises to the American public without coming up with a payment plan that includes more than taxing the rich.
“I yearn for a more adult discussion of these things and when I hear it I’ll cast my vote, and support people like that,” he said in the interview. “In the absence I keep my hands in my pocket, and my wallet too.”
Wynn now sings a different tune. Fox Business reported in September that Wynn was serving as an unofficial advisor to the Trump campaign. Later that month, Wynn told ABC-affiliate KTNV that Trump is “stable enough” to be president.
“In a personal conversation about any substantive issue, Donald Trump is focused and intelligent,” Wynn said.
Ken Langone
Home Depot’s (HD) co-founder, Kenneth Langone, has also been vocal about his support for Trump, telling CNBC’s Closing Bell earlier this month: “I think he’ll do a hell of a good job…at least I’m hoping.”
Predicting a landslide win for Trump, Langone said that Trump has a good reputation as a business executive.
“I think it’s going to be a romp,” he told CNBC. “I know people who’ve done business with him, and they’ve had a good experience. You hear all these stories about his business practices. You can’t prove it by me.”
Brian France
When NASCAR CEO and chairman Brian France endorsed Donald Trump last spring, he faced furor from some of his fans.
“I was, frankly, very surprised, that my diversity efforts for my whole career would have been called into question, over this, in my view, a routine endorsement,” he said in an interview with the Associated Press.
The executive, who admitted to having campaigned with both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in years past, said that he does not see eye to eye with Trump on all issues, but the real estate mogul turned politician has his vote regardless.
“I’m not supporting him for all of his views, or his immigration views,” France said. “I happen to be very enamored by the excitement he’s brought and the voter turnout that it is creating.”
Sheldon Adelson
Disillusioned with Obama’s policies over government spending, health care and international deals, chairman and chief executive of Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS) Sheldon Adelson wrote his endorsement of Trump in The Washington Post in May.
“The alternative to Trump being sworn in as the nation’s 45th president is frightening,” he wrote, explaining that his ideal presidential candidate would have a similar experience of being the chief executive over the public’s money.
“It turns out that is exactly what we are getting in Trump,” he wrote. “He is a candidate with actual CEO experience, shaped and molded by the commitment and risk of his own money rather…a success story that exemplifies the American spirit of determination, commitment to cause and business stewardship.”
Jack Welch
The executive chair of Jack Welch Management Institute adamantly told Bloomberg TV in June that he would vote for “for just about any human being against Hillary Clinton in this election.”
He was hopeful that Trump would continue focus on creating jobs, defeating ISIS and rebuilding America, and spend less time making comments that could land him in hot water.
“Obviously I wish he would speak less about things like judges in Indiana,” he had said to Bloomberg in June after he came under fire for his comments about a federal judge presiding over a Trump University lawsuit. “Anybody could beat Hillary Clinton but we’re trying not to with these statements.”
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