Timothy Mellon is the heir to a Gilded Age banking fortune. While he’s not the sort to flaunt it, recent political donations have repeatedly thrust him into the spotlight.
The reclusive billionaire’s latest gift was an anonymous donation of $130 million to the Pentagon to help it pay troops during the government shutdown, which is nearing one month with no end in sight, The New York Times reported.
Republicans and Democrats are in a budget standoff over healthcare subsidies, forcing hundreds of thousands of federal workers to go without pay. US troops are expecting their next paycheck next week.
The Pentagon is able to accept donations, but using them to pay workers during a shutdown is a legal gray area that could be challenged.
Melton, a GOP megadonor in recent years, emerged as a key financial backer of Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s 2024 presidential campaign, contributing the majority of the funding for American Values 2024, the main super PAC supporting Kennedy’s candidacy.
Mellon has also supported the pro-Trump super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., contributing tens of millions.
The day after Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in his hush money trial, Mellon gave $50 million to Trump’s super PAC, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Who is Timothy Mellon?
Mellon is the grandson of Andrew Mellon, the banking titan who served as treasury secretary from 1921-1932, spanning three Republican presidents.
He is an heir to the family fortune. Forbes estimates the family’s net worth to be more than $14 billion.
When it comes to Mellon’s own business ventures, he’s perhaps best known for purchasing the former Pan Am.
Mellon is a former liberal who has veered rightward over the years, telling Bloomberg in 2020 that it was mostly about his business dealings.
“I think it came largely from going into business with certain small companies and seeing the interaction between commerce and government — it just seemed like government was making things way too difficult and against the interests of working people,” Mellon said at the time. “The more restrictions you have, the less likely you are to hire people.”
He also once wrote in a self-published autobiography that welfare programs are “slavery redux,” while saying that Black people became “even more belligerent and unwilling to pitch in to improve their own situations” after the expansion of social welfare systems.
He told Bloomberg that he “said everything I wanted to say” and doesn’t “have any regrets” about the book.
He’s a big contributor to GOP causes
In 2021, Mellon contributed $53 million to an effort led by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, effectively funding that entire venture on his own.
He’s given millions of dollars to GOP causes and campaigns in recent years, including $20 million to a pro-Trump super PAC in 2020, $45 million to a super PAC tied to GOP House leadership, and $30 million to a super PAC associated with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Correction: October 26, 2025 — An earlier version of this story misstated that Timothy Mellon was a donor to John F. Kennedy Jr. It was Robert F. Kennedy.
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