4 June 25 - July 1, 2026 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | SHOW ME THE MONEY A billionaire investor with ties to TikTok is bankrolling Byron Donalds’ campaign. BY NATASHA YEE A s Congressman Byron Donalds declines to debate his Republican rivals in Florida’s gov- ernor’s race, new campaign fi- nance records show the biggest financial force behind his candi- dacy isn’t a Florida political pow- erhouse or a longtime Tallahassee insider. It’s Jeff Yass, the Pennsylvania billionaire investor whose fortune is tied in part to Byte- Dance, the Chinese technology company that owns TikTok. Records filed by Friends of Byron Donalds PAC show Yass has contributed a staggering $7.5 million to the committee backing Don- alds’ gubernatorial bid, making him the single largest donor supporting the Naples congress- man’s campaign, which has amassed over $81 million in total, including more than $71 mil- lion in PAC funding. The contribution dwarfs those of nearly every other donor and places Yass at the center of one of the most well- funded campaigns in Florida political history. Yass, co-founder of the trading firm Susquehanna International Group, is one of the most influential Republican donors in America. He has spent tens of millions of dol- lars backing conservative candidates and causes across the country, including $16 mil- lion toward President Donald Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc. in the first half of 2025 (as Trump postponed a legally mandated TikTok ban), and is a major supporter of the anti-tax group Club for Growth. But Yass has also drawn national attention because of his massive investment in Byte- Dance, TikTok’s parent company. Through Susquehanna and related investment vehi- cles, Yass became an early investor in the company and has reportedly amassed a stake worth billions of dollars. The donation also arrives at a moment when TikTok itself is under renewed legal pressure in Florida. This week, Attorney Gen- eral James Uthmeier sued TikTok and Byte- Dance, accusing the company of violating Florida’s child-safety law by allowing users under 14 to access the platform and mislead- ing parents about potentially harmful con- tent. The state is seeking financial penalties and court-ordered changes to the app. That investment thrust him into the cen- ter of the political battle over TikTok, which lawmakers from both parties have accused of posing potential national security risks be- cause of its Chinese ownership. In 2024, re- ports emerged that Yass was lobbying Republicans to oppose legislation that could have forced ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban in the United States. Now, Yass has emerged as the financial heavyweight behind Donalds’ bid to become Florida’s next governor. Yass did not respond to New Times’ phone calls or an emailed request for comment be- fore publication. The billionaire’s $7.5 million contribution is more than double that of the PAC’s next- largest contributor, the fiscally conservative Club for Growth PAC, which has given $3.65 million. Other major donors in- clude the Semi- nole Tribe of Florida at $3 mil- lion, Uline bil- lionaire Richard Uihlein at $2 million, and Boca Raton-based pri- vate prison giant GEO Group, which contrib- uted a combined $1.5 million through two separate donations. GEO Group, one of the nation’s largest pri- vate prison and detention contractors, has long been active in Florida politics and main- tains significant business interests tied to government detention and corrections con- tracts. The private prison contractor operates four Florida facilities, including Broward Transitional Center in Deerfield Beach, which is used to house U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees. The donor list also includes Palm Beach billionaire Thomas Peterffy ($1.2 million), ca- sino magnate Steve Wynn, and utility giant NextEra Energy, each of whom has contrib- uted $1 million. Another notable donor is Kalshi, the feder- ally regulated prediction market company that contributed $25,000 to Donalds’ political committee. At the same time, Kalshi’s market has consistently shown Donalds as the over- whelming favorite in the Republican primary, with odds recently topping 95 percent, ac- cording to reporting by the Miami Herald. Donalds later amplified those odds on social media, creating an unusual dynamic in which a campaign donor is also publicly promoting a market that forecasts the candidate’s victory. Taken together, the contributions offer a glimpse at the powerful coalition of billion- aires, corporate interests, gambling opera- tors, energy companies, government contractors, and private prison interests backing Donalds’ campaign. The fundraising haul comes as Donalds faces criticism for declining to debate fellow Republicans seeking the governor’s mansion. The criticism isn’t just coming from De- Santis. Republican gubernatorial candidate James Fishback has spent weeks publicly challenging Donalds to debate, arguing voters deserve to hear candidates defend their re- cords and positions before the primary. Ear- lier this month, Fishback confronted Donalds at a campaign stop in Lake City, where he again called on the congressman to share a debate stage with his rivals. Fishback also seized on the PAC’s donor list, arguing Donalds’ campaign is increasingly reli- ant on wealthy donors outside Florida. “Byron Donalds is bought and paid for by out-of-state billionaires who will never live here, never drink our water, and never sit in our Gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds currently enjoys a financial advantage few Florida candidates have ever possessed. Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images | METRO | THE FUNDRAISING HAUL COMES AS DONALDS FACES CRITICISM FOR DECLINING TO DEBATE FELLOW REPUBLICANS SEEKING THE GOVERNOR’S MANSION. Hush-hush Peter Thiel’s secret society is exposed as Palantir deepens its South Florida roots. BY NATASHA YEE A secretive, invitation-only society founded by billionaire tech inves- tor and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel is suddenly a lot less secret. Earlier this month, Swiss hacktivist and researcher Maia Arson Crimew revealed what appears to be a list of more than 100 members of Dialog, the little-known orga- nization Thiel launched in 2006 alongside entrepreneur Auren Hoffman. The alleged roster was reportedly embedded in the code of Dialog’s otherwise sparse website, allowing journalists and researchers to ex- tract names linked to the group. The leak, first reported and independently verified by WIRED, offers a rare glimpse inside one of the most exclusive networking circles in technology, politics, finance, and national security. Dialog has long been compared to the Bilderberg Group (described by the BBC as “perhaps the most controversial clandestine organisation of our times”), hosting off-the-record retreats that bring together senators, governors, military officials, hedge fund managers, tech founders, academics, and media figures. Unlike many elite conferences, Dialog does not publicly disclose its membership or attendee lists. The X account Capitol Hunters high- lighted the discovery in a viral post. “A leak exposed the membership of Peter Thiel’s secretive Dialog network, a private society that hosts exclusive annual re- treats for influential people in technology, politics, and business,” the account wrote, sharing screenshots of what appeared to be member records and attendee informa- tion. The post described Dialog as “a highly curated community of elite thinkers and leaders” that has operated largely outside public view. According to the leaked records re- viewed by WIRED, Dialog’s network in- cludes a random assortment of figures, including Elon Musk, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Sen. Cory Booker, former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, and former Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. Entrepreneur and self-proclaimed “biohacker” Bryan Johnson, Lisa Monaco, who helped lead the January 6 prosecutions, former record executive and talent manager (and boy- friend to Sydney Sweeney) Scooter Braun, and numerous executives from companies including Palantir, Google DeepMind, and major investment firms, are also on the previously top-secret list. The leak emerged after >> p5 >> p5 Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) speaks alongside other members of Congress from Florida about the indictment of the former President of Cuba, Raúl Castro, during a news conference in the U.S. Capitol on May 20, 2026, in Washington, DC.
