Bill Gates congratulates Trump after reported $50M donation backing Harris

Billionaire Bill Gates, who reportedly gave $50 million to a PAC backing Vice President Harris in this year’s election, congratulated President-elect Trump on Thursday afternoon following his decisive win.

“Congratulations to President Trump and VP-elect Vance,” Gates said in a post on the social platform X. “America is at its strongest when we use ingenuity and innovation to improve lives here in the U.S. and around the world.”

“I hope we can work together now to build a brighter future for everyone,” he added.

Trump’s win followed a chaotic 2024 campaign cycle, which included two assassination attempts and President Biden leaving the race in late July.

It also featured a clash of tech billionaires, with figures like Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen backing Trump, while other like Gates and Mark Cuban supported Harris.

Melinda French Gates, the ex-wife of Bill Gates, also backed Harris.

“I feel like Kamala, I was happy to endorse. I’ve worked with her before, she knows what we need in society and she’s using her voice against those issues already on the campaign trail, and I knew she would,” French Gates said in late July on CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

Musk went all in on Trump’s bid for the presidency, even making appearances at his rallies and starting America PAC, a pro-Trump super PAC, giving $118 million to the committee.

“The people of America gave @realDonaldTrump a crystal clear mandate for change tonight,” Musk posted on X early Wednesday morning.

The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.

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