For months, a group of high-rolling Republican donors with considerable resources to pour into super PACs or political nonprofits were undecided about which White House candidate to support with their millions. But that’s finally changing, in no small part due to billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer‘s announcement last weekend that he’s backing Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Singer’s decision could bring some unity to the prominent financier class that has already given 39.2 percent of all contributions to outside spending groups like super PACs this cycle. After all, it may have before.

Singer, the founder of Elliot Management, has already given $3.1 million to super PACs and candidates, though none to the presidential hopefuls. That makes him No. 12 on the list of top donors in the 2016 cycle so far. He placed No. 3 overall in the 2014 cycle, giving $11.5 million to conservative candidates and super PACs, and No. 16 in 2012 with $3.7 in contributions. In 2014, he was the top conservative donor overall; the only individuals to give more to super PACs and candidates were investor Tom Steyer and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who both supported liberal candidates.

The support of Singer, then, is by itself worth much to Rubio. But if history repeats itself, Singer’s money could be something of a magnet, reaping even greater returns: Several other hedge funders tend to gravitate to the same candidates and causes he backs. That could be due to Singer’s influence among donors — or maybe the billionaire just knows how to pick ’em.

But the 70-year-old who’s listed by Forbes as the 327th richest man in the world, is said to meticulously vet candidates he supports; according to Politico, he listened to an 11th-hour appeal from the Bush campaign for support that was, per his interest, heavy on strategy.)

When it comes to causes, Singer breaks a bit with traditional Republican orthodoxy. While he’s a major funder of Ending Spending Action Fund, which crusades against wasteful government spending, he also supports American Unity PAC, a group that supports Republicans who advocate for marriage equality.

Both groups — one representing a traditional Republican cause, the other staking new ground — receive money from Singer’s de facto clique of donors. American Unity, despite representing something of a rift among Republicans, has still drawn contributions from major Republican donors like Cliff Asness and Seth Klarman. Meanwhile, popular Republican establishment candidates like Rep. Elise Stefanik enjoy the support of Singer and his peers.

To see why Singer’s contributions — and his picks — matter, explore the chart below. It shows the overlap between Singer’s contributions to committees and candidates since 2010 and those of some of the other donors in his orbit. It doesn’t display the other donors’ contributions to all political causes, just their similarity to the hedge fund billionaire at the center. Simply put, the more spokes on a donor’s wheel, the more they’ve given to the same groups as Singer. (Set the number of nodes on the top left of the chart to “120 of 14649” to see the fullest picture.)

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The chart shows a group of hedge funders with similar giving patterns near the center, closest to Singer. Investor Kenneth Griffin, for instance, has given to at least 12 of the committees Singer has given to. (The chart shows only the largest contributions and contributors — bump up the number of “nodes,” at the top left, to see more.)

That overlap could be big for Rubio. Asness hadn’t yet put money behind a presidential candidate at the end of June. Klarman had donated to the super PACs of several Republican contenders, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — who assiduously courted Singer, according to Politico — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Rubio, without settling on one. Similarly, Griffin had given $100,000 apiece to super PACs supporting Bush and Rubio, splitting his support like several other major Republican donors.

In a letter announcing his decision, reported and published by Politico, Singer encouraged others to come together behind Rubio.

“In a field full of promise, but also of risk for the party, Senator Rubio is the strongest choice…I hope you’ll join me in supporting his presidential campaign,” he wrote.

The next super PAC reports are due to the Federal Election Commission at the end of January.

Correction: An earlier version of this story included incorrect figures for Singer’s total contributions in 2014 and 2012. He gave $11.5 million in 2014 and $3.7 million in 2012, not $10.6 million in 2014 and $2.8 million in 2012.



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