It’s the battle of the billionaires this presidential election cycle — and this time, they’re putting their mouths where their money is.

According to a recent report from Americans for Tax Fairness, at least 700 of America’s roughly 800 billionaires contributed to the 2020 election, and 465 contributed to the 2022 midterms.

Experts expect that number to be even higher for the 2024 election. By the end of August, more than $1.4 billion had been pumped into the 2024 cycle by 150 billionaire families alone.

Billionaires are usually big spenders on elections, but they often stay on the sidelines, letting their donations speak for them or making them anonymously.

This year’s election looks different. The billionaires are now speaking out about issues and appearing alongside the candidates they support at rallies. Two currently in the spotlight are Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and former “Shark Tank” investor and Dallas Mavericks part-owner Mark Cuban.

Musk is paying people to get them involved in the election — a strategy that has some officials questioning its legality, though the X owner insists it’s completely legal.

He announced over the weekend that he will give away $1 million every day to random registered voters in battleground states who sign a petition in support of the First and Second Amendments. Federal law criminalizes anyone who pays, offers to pay or accepts payments for registering to vote or for voting. Musk argues he’s not paying anyone to do that; it’s just for signing a petition supporting free speech and gun rights.

“This is a one-time ask. Just go out there and talk to your friends and family and acquaintances and people you meet in the street and convince them to vote,” he said after announcing the cash prize.

His super PAC didn’t announce a winner for its daily giveaway Wednesday after the Justice Department warned him that his sweepstakes might be illegal.

The world’s richest man has also given more than $75 million to his pro-Trump super PAC. He’s appeared multiple times on the campaign trail with former President Donald Trump, promoting conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

He’s also been vocal about politics on X, which he reportedly turned into a megaphone for himself by promoting his own posts above others’.

Musk tweets frequently about Trump and has faced criticism for amplifying unproven or debunked claims, such as Haitian immigrants eating pets, the government not helping Republican hurricane victims and anti-Ukraine posts allegedly uploaded by Russian propagandists. He stands to gain significantly from a Trump victory.

Musk holds government contracts worth billions with more than a dozen federal agencies. Trump says Musk will be part of his cabinet, leading a panel strictly focused on cutting government costs. In that role, Musk would oversee agencies that grant his companies contracts and subsidies. He’s already making plans to lift regulations affecting SpaceX so it can “reach Mars sooner.”

If Trump wins and follows through on giving Musk a senior advisory role, it likely wouldn’t go unchallenged, as federal law prohibits advisers considered “special government employees” from “participating personally and substantially in any particular matter that affects their financial interests.”

Still, if voters choose Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris, and knowing Trump’s plans and Musk’s views, it may be a conflict they are willing to accept.

Cuban’s support of Harris, meanwhile, isn’t as tied to government control. Cuban says he’s not a political donor. According to Federal Election Commission records, he’s only donated once — $1,000 to a California Democrat in 2002.

When Cuban was accused online of donating to the Harris campaign for personal gain, he responded: “I have been promised one thing and one thing only, that their team would evaluate my ideas and suggestions. Not a damn thing more. I gave as much to her campaign, PACs, and political organizations as I have to every one of them the last 20-plus years: $000000.0000000.”

But he’s certainly vocal, pushing back against Musk on social media and promoting Harris in media interviews. In an interview with Newsweek, he said, “I admire Elon the entrepreneur. I also think Elon the Twitter (X) owner is a world-class troll.”

In the same interview, he said a second Trump term would be worse than the first. Cuban described Harris as “far more stable” and “open-minded,” taking advice from independents and Republicans. He also said Trump’s tariffs would put small businesses out of business, while Harris is the pro-business candidate who will serve their best interests.

When asked if he’d take a job in a Harris administration, Cuban said no.

The new trend of billionaires stepping away from quietly opening their wallets and instead getting up on stage or sitting down with journalists may reflect how high the stakes are in this election — or how close the race is. Some lawmakers are skeptical of this trend, arguing elections shouldn’t be pumped full of money.

Sen. Bernie Sanders weighed in on CNN Tuesday.

“You’re seeing a handful of billionaires put huge amounts of money into the political process — three billionaires, over $200 million into Donald Trump,” Sanders said. “Really? Is that the kind of democracy we want?”

But will it matter to voters more than endorsements from athletes, singers or actors? In the last election, a February 2020 Morning Consult poll found that nearly 9 in 10 people said no celebrity endorsement would sway their vote. That still leaves 11% of Americans, which is more than enough to decide the result of a close race.

Only time and the election results will tell.

Have a news tip? Contact Grayce McCormick at gamccormick@sbgtv.com.