Anthony Pratt made late $15m donation to Trump presidential campaign
Data shows the billionaire made the donation at the beginning of November – days before Donald Trump’s election win – making him the second-biggest individual donor to MAGA Inc.
Billionaire Anthony Pratt made a late $US10m ($15.5m) donation to US President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign, information released by American authorities reveals.
Mr Pratt made the big donation to the Trump campaign via MAGA Inc, a super PAC supporting Trump, data from the Federal Election Commission shows.
“As I’ve said many times before, President Trump was a great president and will once again be a great president,” Mr Pratt said when approached by The Australian for comment about the donation.
“I’ve been proud to support him not only by making this donation, but also by investing billions in well paying American manufacturing jobs during his first presidency.
“I will do so again in his upcoming presidency.”
FEC data showed the $US10m donation by Mr Pratt happened at the beginning of November, days before Mr Trump beat Democrat candidate Kamala Harris in the US Federal Election.
The latest FEC data shows Mr Pratt being the second biggest individual donor to MAGA Inc, a Super PAC (political action committee) that pools campaign contributions from members and donors and then donates funds to help back candidates or causes.
Reclusive US billionaire Timothy Mellon, an heir to the Mellon banking fortune, was listed as donating $US75m between July and September.
Other major donors to MAGA Inc in the latest FEC data include hedge fund manager Paul Singer and transport magnate Roger Penske.
Mr Pratt has long been a supporter of Mr Trump, claiming to have bet on him to win the 2016 election and joining the President-elect’s private Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
The billionaire cardboard box manufacturing and recycling magnate also hosted President Trump at the opening of his Ohio factory in 2019, along with then Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Mr Pratt recently revealed he is making a permanent move to the US where he owns Pratt Industries.
The Pratt family’s Visy empire in Australia is owned by Mr Pratt and his sisters Heloise Pratt and Fiona Geminder.
The Australia’s Margin Call column also recently revealed Mr Pratt will host 700 guests at Mar-a-Lago for customers of Pratt Industries in mid-December.
Mar-a-Lago is also where Mr Trump allegedly shared nuclear submarine secrets with the Australian billionaire after leaving office in 2020 – famously describing Pratt as a “a red-haired weirdo from Australia” when denying the allegations on social media.
Mr Pratt was at risk of being called as one of the starring witnesses in Mr Trump’s trial over his loose attitude to official secrets at Mar-a-Lago, where the former US president allegedly stored dozens of boxes of classified documents after leaving office.
But that trial was dismissed by a Florida judge in May and now looks increasingly unlikely to ever go ahead after his return to the White House.
Mr Pratt has been splitting his time between America and Australia since being sent to the US in 1991 by his late father Richard Pratt to oversee the operations of the family business, which then consisted of one ageing factory in Macon, Georgia.
While he will remain an Australian citizen and maintain his position on The List – Australia’s Richest 250, Mr Pratt recently said on a LinkedIn post:
“We decided it was time to live in America because:
(1) My family are all US citizens.
(2) Over the past 30 years we have invested to build 70 factories in America, creating 12,000 well-paying American manufacturing jobs.
(3) I will remain chairman of Visy Australia, and will be returning to Australia on a regular basis.”
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