ByPhoebe Liu,
Forbes Staff.
M
ellon family heir and former railroad magnate Tim Mellon has now given at least $504 million to politics, a staggering sum for someone who insists he isn’t a billionaire. Most of it has gone to President Trump and right-leaning causes, mostly in the last five years. The anonymous $130 million gift to pay active-duty troops during the government shutdown—first reported by the New York Times as coming from Mellon based on conversations with two people who knew—means Mellon could be the first billionaire or near-billionaire who has donated more than half their wealth to politics.
“I’m not going to use his name unless he lets me do it,” Trump said in a press conference on Friday announcing the donation, where he called the donor a patriot and a friend. “He doesn’t really want the recognition, if you want to know the truth.”
