CEOs appear to have been among the biggest winners of the US midterm elections, as records show that most individually backed candidates won their respective races.
Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour donated directly to 36 candidates, of whom 83% were elected on November 3. Throughout this election cycle, Mansour has donated more than $970,000 across candidates and political action committees (PACs), almost equally distributed between Democrats and Republicans.
Traditional sports betting, on the other hand, managed to achieve a perfect score in direct donations. Candidates backed by both Jason Robins, CEO of DraftKings, and Christian Genetski (albeit through the company's PAC), CEO of FanDuel, all won their respective races.
According to data provided by the non-profit organization Public Citizen, one-third of all corporate money spent on political campaigns since 2010 was spent on the latest midterms. In total, companies have raised more than $600m, with sports betting, AI and crypto accounting for more than half.
Backing a candidate doesn't necessarily translate into approval from politicians, especially as the now predominantly Democratic Congress is likely to oppose a lot of President Donald Trump's views.
In the past, the President has expressed his belief in keeping prediction markets under federal control, criticizing state regulators. However, operators' investment in many Democratic candidates could indicate a positive outcome from this blue shift.
Texas, for instance, has become a blue state for the first time since 1980. This dramatic change may pave the way for new opportunities, especially with the replacement of some of the state's gambling opponents with more pro-industry officials.
Specifically, the appointment of Vikki Goodwin to Lieutenant Governor, who supports putting casino expansion and sports betting to public vote.
It's also important to note that the full extent of the CEOs' total donations is difficult to measure, as most donations went to Super PACs that divest the money into other committees, making it harder to trace back to a specific candidate or race.
Sports betting companies donated a combined $72m in less than a year to the Win for America Super PAC
