Billionaire Tom Steyer said he would end his largely self-funded Democratic presidential bid, marking the end of his first campaign for any type of elective office.
The 62-year-old initially ruled out running for president and said that he would focus on efforts to take on President Trump through Need to Impeach, his organization that advocated for Trump’s impeachment, which the Democratic majority House did in December. About six months later in July, the hedge fund king launched a presidential bid.
Though he joined the race much later than other presidential hopefuls, Steyer soon outpaced some of his competitors in meeting donor and polling metrics for the fall 2019 debates. He spent millions of dollars on digital and television advertising and utilized voter data from Need to Impeach and NextGen America, his environmental advocacy group.
He said that he had planned to spend $100 million of his own money on his campaign, drawing criticism from other candidates who condemn big money in politics.
Forbes estimated that Steyer is worth about $1.6 billion, about half as much as Trump, whom Forbes estimates is worth around $3.1 billion.
Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, a Democrat whom the Center for Responsive Politics estimated to be worth around $230 million in 2015, also largely self-funded his presidential campaign.
But even those levels of wealth were eclipsed by the entrance into the Democratic nomination race of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, worth an estimated $56 billion or more.
[Opinion: Tom Steyer is the poster child for liberal hypocrisy]
