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Reality TV star-turned mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt is rapidly gaining traction in the race to unseat incumbent Karen Bass, as a growing roster of high-profile tech executives, entertainment moguls and billionaire investors pour money into his longshot campaign just days ahead of the June 2 primary.
Pratt — long known as an erratic, manipulative reality TV villain who thrived on drama and fractured friendships — has rebranded himself as an unlikely political contender after losing his Pacific Palisades home in last year’s wildfire, which destroyed more than 18,000 structures.
He has since made anger over the disaster response central to his campaign, repeatedly accusing city leaders of “negligence.”
Now, some of the country’s most influential business figures are backing him, according to the New York Times. One investor likened his momentum to Zohran Mamdani’s late breakout in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, where he closed a long-standing gap behind Andrew Cuomo and overtook him just before the June vote.
Among the most prominent names backing Pratt is billionaire hedge fund manager Dan Loeb, founder of Third Point Capital and a Los Angeles-area native known for his outspoken activism in finance and politics.
Another major supporter is Bobby Kotick, the longtime former chief executive of gaming giant Activision Blizzard, who became one of the most powerful figures in the video game industry during his decades-long tenure.
Crypto billionaires Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss — the twin brothers who founded the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini and famously sued Mark Zuckerberg over Facebook’s origins — have also contributed to Pratt’s campaign.
They split their time between Los Angeles, including an $18 million Hollywood Hills mansion in the Bird Streets, and New York City.
Entertainment heavyweight Haim Saban and his wife, philanthropist Cheryl Saban, are among the notable Hollywood figures supporting Pratt.
Saban is an Israeli-American media proprietor, investor, composer, and producer with interests in entertainment, media, and financial services, and an estimated net worth of $3.3 billion.
Saban built his fortune through children’s entertainment, including the “Power Rangers” franchise, and has long been a major political donor in Democratic circles.
Sports and music industry leaders are also entering the race financially.
Jeanie Buss, governor and controlling owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, donated alongside music executive Lucian Grainge, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group. His son, Elliot Grainge, chief executive of Atlantic Music Group, also backed Pratt.
More of the ultra rich behind his campaign include:
- Jamie Siminoff, founder of Ring, later acquired by Amazon.
- Mark Pincus, founder of Zynga, mobile and social gaming company.
- Sean Rad, co-founder of dating app Tinder.
- Jeffrey Sprecher, CEO of Intercontinental Exchange, parent company of the New York Stock Exchange.
- Val Blavatnik, son of billionaire investor Len Blavatnik and director at Warner Music Group.
- Nicole Avant, prominent Democratic fundraiser and wife of Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix.
Several donors said Pratt’s performance in a recent mayoral debate helped convince them he was a serious candidate, according to DealBook.
His campaign has drawn attention for AI-generated social media videos and anti-establishment messaging, including a viral Hollywood-style clip portraying Spencer Pratt as a Batman-like hero rescuing a dystopian Los Angeles from the Democratic establishment, with Karen Bass depicted as the Joker.
Polling suggests Pratt’s candidacy is no longer being dismissed outright, especially given his steady incline.
An Emerson College Polling survey las week showed Bass leading the field at 30%, with Pratt surging to 22% — more than doubling his support since March, when he polled at 10%.
“Unfortunately, my entire life is talking to people in the industry, but I can report that everyone was pleasantly — or unpleasantly — surprised by Spencer Pratt’s debate performance,” Democratic strategist Michael Trujillo told The California Post.
Some analysts have compared Spencer Pratt to Donald Trump, another political outsider whose rise attracted growing support from prominent CEOs, business tycoons, and Wall Street figures.
“There’s absolutely a connection to be made with the tone and tenor and style of his campaign, and there are definitely correlations that can and should be made between him and Trump,” Mike Madrid, a GOP strategist, told The Post.
Prediction market Kalshi also showed Pratt’s odds climbing sharply in recent months, though Bass remains the favorite.
“We look forward to winning the general election against either Nithya Raman or Spencer Pratt,” spokesperson for Bass told the Post.
Pratt still faces daunting historical and demographic headwinds in deep-blue Los Angeles.
The last Republican elected mayor of Los Angeles was Richard Riordan in 1993, and Bass allies argue massive fundraising alone does not guarantee victory — pointing to billionaire developer Rick Caruso, who spent more than $100 million on his unsuccessful 2022 mayoral bid against Bass.
Pratt is a registered Republican, but because the Los Angeles mayoral race is nonpartisan, party affiliation does not appear on the ballot; he is running as an independent “community advocate.”
Under the election system, the top two vote getters in June will head off to face each other in the general election, unless one candidate gets the majority of votes outright.
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