Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of private equity firm Blackstone and a Republican megadonor, announced he will not be supporting Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race.
“America does better when its leaders are rooted in today and tomorrow, not today and yesterday,” Schwarzman said in a statement to Axios. “It is time for the Republican Party to turn a new generation of leaders and I intend to support one of them in the presidential primaries.”
Schwarzman, who has a net worth of $30 billion, previously gave $3.7 million to committees supporting Trump. He was also once chairman of Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum, a now-defunct forum of business leaders.
He is the second GOP megadonor to come out against Trump, who announced his 2024 presidential bid Nov. 15. Last week, Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder of Citadel, endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
At a Bloomberg forum in Singapore, Griffin urged Trump to step aside for DeSantis. “I’d like to think that the Republican party is ready to move on from somebody who has been for this party a three-time loser,” he said.
