Who is Timothy Mellon? -Business Insider

Timothy Mellon is the heir to a Gilded Age banking fortune. Although he’s not one to flaunt it, his recent political donations have repeatedly put him in the spotlight.

The reclusive billionaire’s latest gift was an anonymous $130 million donation to the Pentagon to help pay its troops during the nearly month-long government shutdown with no end in sight, the New York Times reported.

Republicans and Democrats are in a budget standoff over health care subsidies, forcing hundreds of thousands of federal workers without pay. American troops are expecting their next paycheck next week.

The Pentagon is able to accept donations, but using them to pay workers in the event of a shutdown is a legal gray area that could be challenged.

Melton, a GOP megadonor in recent years, became a major donor to John F. Kennedy Jr.’s 2024 presidential campaign, contributing the majority of funding to American Values ​​2024, the main super PAC supporting Kennedy’s candidacy.

Mellon also supported the pro-Trump super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., contributing tens of millions.

The day after Trump was convicted on 34 counts in his secret trial, Mellon gave $50 million to Trump’s super PAC, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Who is Timothy Mellon?

Mellon is the grandson of Andrew Mellon, the banking titan who served as Treasury Secretary from 1921 to 1932, under three Republican presidents.

He is the heir to the family fortune. Forbes estimates the family’s net worth at more than $14 billion.

As for Mellon’s own businesses, he is perhaps best known for purchasing the former Pan Am.

Mellon is a former liberal who has shifted to the right over the years, telling Bloomberg in 2020 that it was mainly about his business dealings.

“I think a lot of it came from going into business with some small businesses and seeing the interplay between commerce and government — it just seemed like the government was making things way too difficult and against the interests of workers,” Mellon said at the time. “The more restrictions you have, the less likely you are to hire staff.”

He also once wrote in a self-published autobiography that welfare programs are a “redux of slavery,” while asserting that blacks became “even more belligerent and unwilling to get involved in improving their own situation” after the expansion of welfare systems.

He told Bloomberg that he “said everything I wanted to say” and that he “had no regrets” about the book.

He is a big contributor to GOP causes

In 2021, Mellon contributed $53 million to an effort led by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, effectively financing the entire enterprise on his own.

He has donated millions of dollars to GOP causes and campaigns in recent years, including $20 million to a pro-Trump super PAC in 2020, $45 million to a super PAC tied to House GOP leadership and $30 million to a super PAC associated with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.