Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis celebrates on stage during his 2022 US midterm election night party in Tampa, Florida, November 8, 2022.
Marco Bello | Reuters
Governor Ron DeSantis has assembled a group of wealthy business leaders to help raise funds for his presidential campaign, according to a partial list of fundraisers provided by a senior political official. Florida Republican high.
The package list, made available to CNBC for the first time, includes business leaders from industries ranging from real estate to finance. DeSantis is set to announced his candidacy for president Wednesday night in a Twitter discussion with the owner of the social media platform and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Bundlers will gather at the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami Wednesday through Friday. NBC News reports that they will receive briefings from campaign staff and call for donations for the campaign. DeSantis is widely seen as Donald Trump’s biggest rival in the Republican primaries, even though the former president has a decent lead in recent polls.
The list of DeSantis campaign contributors includes David Horowitz, president of the Horowitz Group, a family office and real estate investment firm based in California. Horowitz did not return a request for comment.
Horowitz previously donated $25,000 to supporters of DeSantis PAC Friends of Ron DeSantis, the organization was rebranded with new leadership as the Florida governor moved to launch his bid for the White House. . During the 2020 election, Horowitz contributed just over $35,000 to the Republican National Committee and at least $2,800 to Trump’s failed campaign, according to data from the nonpartisan website OpenSecrets.
Hal Lambert, founder of investment management firm Point Bridge Capital, is also on the list.
Lambert’s company created MAGA ETF, an exchange-traded fund touted as a way for people to invest in companies that align with Republican political beliefs. Lambert served on Trump’s Inaugural Committee and was the national finance chair for Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign, according to his website.
“I definitely think I could very well make $500,000 hard,” Lambert said in an email when asked how much he plans to raise for DeSantis. “I want to win in November and I don’t think Trump will. If you look at the map, the states we need, he’s either losing or has lost before,” he later added.
Records show Lambert also donated to Friends of Ron DeSantis PAC and Trump’s campaign.
Jay Zeidman, a managing partner at healthcare investment firm Altitude Ventures, is also listed as a fundraiser for the DeSantis campaign. Zeidman did not return a request for comment.
Zeidman previously donated to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s failed presidential campaign, according to OpenSecrets. New York Times report that Zeidman was friends with Bush’s son, George P. Bush.
Frank Mermoud, president of Orpheus International, is also a member of the DeSantis packaging team, according to a list provided to CNBC. Records show he was also a supporter of Bush’s failed presidential primaries in 2016.
Mermoud could not be reached for comment.
