Billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer has dropped out of the Democratic presidential race following a disappointing result in South Carolina, the early voting state on which his campaign staked its hopes.

The former hedge fund manager from California entered the contest in July last year and his campaign reportedly spent more than $200m on his bid for the nomination, but he struggled to compete in a crowded field with better known candidates such as former vice-president Joe Biden and senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

“We were disappointed with where we came out,” Steyer said on Saturday night, saying he may have won just a couple delegates from South Carolina’s congressional districts. “I said if I didn’t see a path to winning, then I’d suspend my campaign. And honestly, I can’t see a path where I can win the presidency.”

Steyer, who did not win any delegates in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, campaigned aggressively in South Carolina for weeks and held more events in the state than any other candidate.

His wife relocated to the state for the duration of his campaign, and he spent almost $24 million on TV advertising more than all the other candidates combined in his quest for his first top finish in four contests, targeting minority-owned media in particular with a half-million-dollar spend on black radio.

He spent the last night ahead of voting dancing with rapper Juvenile at a campaign rally that went viral.

Steyer’s supporters chanted “Steyered up, ready to go” as he arrived at an event on Saturday. Encouraging them to finish the campaign strong, he told them: “Let’s run right through the god damn tape.”

Steyer rose to national prominence as a climate change activist and by investing heavily in a campaign to impeach Donald Trump. His presidential campaign was heavily focused on South Carolina, where he sought to appeal to black voters by decrying yawning inequalities in American life that he said were caused by racism.

He promised to continue working on the issues that animated his campaign, specifically racial justice and the climate crisis, which fellow candidates thanked him for spotlighting.

Thank you @TomSteyer for running a campaign to bring the crisis of climate change to the forefront of our national conversation. I look forward to working together to defeat Donald Trump in November. — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 1, 2020

Thank you, @TomSteyer. You've been a powerful voice for climate advocacy and holding Donald Trump accountable. I look forward to fighting alongside you to defeat the climate crisis—and Donald Trump. — Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) March 1, 2020

With a net worth estimated by Forbes as $1.6bn, Steyer was a presence in the Democratic contest well before he made his candidacy official in July 2019, blanketing the airwaves with $10m in television ads advocating for Trump’s impeachment.

Steyer’s Need to Impeach campaign spawned speculation that the 62-year-old would go a step further and also challenge Trump at the ballot box. In the meantime, though, the near-constant ads maintained high visibility for Steyer, who also launched a multicity town hall tour and petition campaign. He traveled to Des Moines in January 2019 to say that he wouldn’t run for the White House, only to change his mind six months later and enter the race.

Steyer’s wealth was characterized as a liability, with both Sanders and Warren decrying the presence of billionaires in the 2020 race.

Warren, who didn’t mention Steyer by name, tweeted after he announced his candidacy: “The Democratic primary should not be decided by billionaires, whether they’re funding Super Pacs or funding themselves.”

Sanders said that while he may like Steyer personally, he is tired of seeing billionaires trying to buy political power. Both also mentioned it in fundraising appeals.

Steyer’s wealth provided him with the ability to campaign nationwide, hiring full complements of state-based staff and continuing to flood the airwaves.

Steyer had spent about $186m on ads, according to the tracking firm Advertising Analytics, though that figure would soon be dwarfed by former Democratic presidential candidate and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s even more massive spending.

In his policy rollouts and campaign speeches in the state, Steyer frequently noted his view that race, and what he saw as race-based injustices, were an undercurrent for many societal problems, including access to healthcare, environmental well-being and the need for criminal justice reform.

Associated Press contributed to this report