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Once upon a time, some \u00fcberwealthy individuals who\u2019d previously supported Donald Trump<\/strong> declared that they were done with the 45th president of the United States. After January 6, 2021, billionaire GOP donor Nelson Peltz<\/strong> called<\/a> the insurrection a \u201cstain on America\u201d and publicly apologized for voting for Trump in 2020. Real estate and aerospace mogul Robert Bigelow<\/strong> said<\/a> Trump \u201clost me as a supporter\u201d and showed, during the attack on the Capitol, that \u201che was no commander.\u201d Billionaire donor Howard Hamm<\/strong> told<\/a> Trump point-blank not to run for office again, saying the Republican Party needed a chaos-free candidate, and gave money<\/a> to his competitors instead.<\/p>\n So it may or may not surprise you that those exact people, and others whose net worths include roughly nine zeros, are now singing an extremely different tune. Which, and we don\u2019t want to shock anyone, might<\/em> have something to do with Joe Biden<\/strong> pledging to raise their taxes. As The Washington Post<\/em> reports<\/a>, Peltz hosted Trump for breakfast this month at his Palm Beach mansion, later telling the Financial Times<\/em> he will \u201cprobably\u201d vote for him in November. Bigelow told Reuters<\/a> in January he donated $1 million to help cover Trump\u2019s legal fees and promised to give $20 million more to a Trump-aligned super PAC. According to the Post,<\/em> Hamm is headlining a fundraiser next month\u2014hosted by fellow billionaire John Paulson<\/strong>\u2014for which the maximum contribution is $814,600.<\/p>\n And, of course, they\u2019re not the only billionaires coming back around for Trump. Per The Washington Post:<\/em><\/p>\n As hopes of a Republican alternative have crumbled, elite donors who once balked at Trump\u2019s\u00a0fueling of the Capitol insurrection, worried about his legal problems, and decried what they saw as his chaotic presidency are rediscovering their affinity for the former president\u2014even as he praises and vows to free January 6 defendants, promises mass deportations, and faces 88 felony charges. The shift reflects many conservative billionaires\u2019 fears of President Biden\u2019s tax agenda, which if approved would drastically reduce their fortunes. In some cases, it also points to their discomfort with the Biden administration\u2019s foreign and domestic policy decisions. Some of these billionaires have been assiduously courted by Trump and his advisers in recent months.<\/p>\n Democrats argue that these billionaires are making their personal fortunes their top priority. Biden has promised to raise many taxes on the rich, including the capital gains rate paid on investment income, and a new 25% tax specifically on billionaires. These efforts were stymied in his first administration, but the president would try again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cThe billionaire class is really threatened by Biden: These guys are about creating a dynasty of wealth for themselves, and hoarding it for their posterity, at the expense of everyone else in society,\u201d Steve Rosenthal<\/strong>, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, told the Post<\/em>.<\/strong> \u201cThat\u2019s the striking story at the moment.\u201d Other wildly wealthy people who are reportedly attending next month\u2019s fundraiser include sugar magnate Jose \u201cPepe\u201d Fanjul,<\/strong> businessman Howard Lutnick,<\/strong> GOP megadonors Rebekah<\/strong> and Bob Mercer<\/strong>, business executives Todd Ricketts<\/strong> and Warren Stephens,<\/strong> and real estate tycoon Steve Witkoff.<\/strong> Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman,<\/strong> who said<\/a> in 2022 that he wouldn\u2018t support Trump in the 2024 primaries, is now said to be \u201cconsidering backing the former president.\u201d (A spokesman for Schwarzman didn\u2019t return the Post<\/em>\u2019s request for comment.) Oracle\u2019s Larry Ellison<\/strong>\u2014who backed Tim Scott<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Nikki Haley<\/strong>\u00a0in the primaries\u2014is reportedly \u201cin discussions about writing a large check in support of Trump.\u201d (Representatives for Schwarzman and Ellison declined to comment or did not respond to a request for comment from the Post.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Perhaps one of the most absurd about-faces, or potential about-faces, is that of Gary Cohn,<\/strong> the former Goldman Sachs executive and now IBM vice chairman, who famously quit<\/a> the Trump administration in 2018 after challenging Trump\u2019s decision to impose tariffs\u00a0on steel and aluminum imports. This month, he told CBS News, of the 2024 election: \u201cI think the business community at this point is still open-minded…the business community really wants to hear the policies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n