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As Congressman Byron Donalds declines to debate his Republican rivals in Florida’s governor’s race, new campaign finance records show the biggest financial force behind his candidacy isn’t a Florida political powerhouse or a longtime Tallahassee insider.
It’s Jeff Yass, the Pennsylvania billionaire investor whose fortune is tied in part to ByteDance, 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 Donalds’ gubernatorial bid, making him the single largest donor supporting the Naples congressman’s campaign, which has amassed over $81 million in total, including more than $71 million 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 dollars backing conservative candidates and causes across the country, including $16 million 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 ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company. Through Susquehanna and related investment vehicles, 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 General James Uthmeier sued TikTok and ByteDance, accusing the company of violating Florida’s child-safety law by allowing users under 14 to access the platform and misleading parents about potentially harmful content. The state is seeking financial penalties and court-ordered changes to the app.
That investment thrust him into the center of the political battle over TikTok, which lawmakers from both parties have accused of posing potential national security risks because of its Chinese ownership. In 2024, reports 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.
In response to New Times’ request for comment regarding why Yass contributed to Donalds’ PAC, a representative for Susquehanna wrote in an email simply that “Donald is a school choice warrior.”
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 include the Seminole Tribe of Florida at $3 million, Uline billionaire Richard Uihlein at $2 million, and Boca Raton-based private prison giant GEO Group, which contributed a combined $1.5 million through two separate donations.
GEO Group, one of the nation’s largest private prison and detention contractors, has long been active in Florida politics and maintains significant business interests tied to government detention and corrections contracts. 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), casino magnate Steve Wynn, and utility giant NextEra Energy, each of whom has contributed $1 million.
Another notable donor is Kalshi, the federally 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 overwhelming favorite in the Republican primary, with odds recently topping 95 percent, according 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 billionaires, corporate interests, gambling operators, 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 DeSantis. Republican gubernatorial candidate James Fishback has spent weeks publicly challenging Donalds to debate, arguing voters deserve to hear candidates defend their records and positions before the primary. Earlier 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 reliant 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 traffic,” Fishback told Miami New Times. “No wonder he’s fighting for data centers and overdevelopment instead of fighting for us.”
Donalds’ campaign has rejected criticism over both its fundraising and debate strategy, arguing the congressman has built overwhelming support among Republican voters and is under no obligation to elevate candidates who have failed to gain significant traction. Last week, Donalds’ campaign dismissed calls for a primary debate after the Republican Party of Florida adopted qualification thresholds that only Donalds currently meets. The standards require candidates to poll at 10 percent, raise at least $10 million, and secure more than 10,000 donors.
Donalds’ campaign argued it was not his responsibility to “legitimize” candidates who have failed to gain traction. The decision drew criticism from Gov. Ron DeSantis, who said Republican voters deserve a debate and suggested the rules were designed to clear the field for Donalds.
Neither Donalds’ congressional offices nor his gubernatorial campaign responded to phone calls and emailed requests for comment before publication.
With more than $71 million raised by Friends of Byron Donalds PAC and millions more flowing into his campaign committee, Donalds currently enjoys a financial advantage few Florida candidates have ever possessed.
And at the top of the donor list sits Yass — the billionaire investor whose wealth, influence, and connection to TikTok have made him one of the most consequential figures in Republican politics.
