Microsoft quietly supporting Joe Biden to avoid the spotlight: Companies are restricted to donate themselves
Here’s the insight into the latest news about Microsoft quietly supporting Joe Biden from Washington, October 26. Many are donating to Joe Biden’s campaign through their companies to save him from the Spotlight.
Microsoft Corp, that has avoided Washington’s inspection of Big Tech companies and scored a gainful $10 billion government contract under the Trump administration, has become as a significant backer of the Biden campaign.
The Redmond, Washington based software company stands in the fourth largest contributor to Democratic Presidential campaign committee, according to data from OpenSecrets, a website which tracks money in politics and campaign finance records.
Last year in Medina, Washington the company’s President Brad Smith is handling the main role behind the scenes, organizing a fundraiser for Biden. He is also helps people raise more than $25,000 for the campaign and had a public role during the Democratic National Convention, similar to amazon.com Inc policy chief Jay Carney.
Microsoft senior executives also donated more to the campaign than any other companies, as reported by Revolving Door Project, part of the Center for Economic & Policy Research (CERP). “Microsoft has been playing politics for much longer than the other large technology companies that are widely talked about,” said Max Moran, a researcher at CERP. “It knows how to play the game on both sides of the aisle,” he then stated.
Microsoft Chief Technology officer Kevin Scott along with his wife gave around $50,000. The Board member and co-founder of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman with his wife also donated to the campaign, where his wife alone donated over a half million dollars to the victory fund.
Companies are restricted by law from donating themselves the contributions are only made through the company’s political action committees (PACs) themselves or through the employees, according to the OpenSecrets.