Wall Street Bonuses Trickle Down to Candidates

Presidential candidates go where the money is, and nowhere is it flowing faster than on Wall Street. The results of the first quarter fundraising reports from the campaigns show that financial firms top the list of major donors across the landscape of candidates.

Not surprisingly, New Yorkers Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rudy Giuliani received the most from Wall Street firms. While corporations are only allowed to contribute small amounts, their employees can donate as much as $2,300 to a candidate. Employees of Goldman Sachs contributed $437,000 in total, more than any other single company, according to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required). Citigroup, Credit Suisse, UBS and Lehman Brothers followed.

A new source of capital during this presidential campaign is the lucrative hedge fund sector. Employees of Elliott Management, a hedge fund run by longtime Giuliani supporter Paul Singer, donated $159,000 to his campaign. John Edwards took in $150,000 from his former employer, the hedge fund Fortress Investment Group. Fortress, which went public in February, disclosed on Tuesday that its net income more than doubled in 2006. It manages $35 billion in assets.

In total, New York City accounted for more than $12 million, or 10 percent, of all presidential donations during the first quarter, the Journal reported.

by Megan Barnett

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images