Who is the billionaire who paid US$2 million for a private visit to the White House with Trump

At a charity ball held in Palm Beach last month, billionaire investor Herbert Wertheim paid $2 million for one of the most exclusive and controversial invitations in the United States: a private visit to the White House with President Donald Trump.

The winning bid came during a fundraiser at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in support of educational scholarships for children of Palm Beach police officers and firefighters. The event raised a record $7.5 million for grants for emergency workers and local utilities, according to organizers.

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Wertheim’s lunch purchase came with round-trip transportation on financier Thomas Peterffy’s private jet, a benefit jointly donated by Peterffy, Trump and philanthropist Lynne Wheat.

“It’s certainly for a good cause,” Wertheim said in an interview with the Palm Beach Post. “We were very pleased to be able to do this.”

A White House spokesperson told Fortune that the reward was approved by the White House legal department and that no legal conflicts of interest were identified.

Presidents of both parties have long offered extravagant rewards and positions to big donors, but watchdog groups have criticized the Trump administration for using high-dollar charity events to exchange personal time with the president, even when the donations are earmarked for a philanthropic cause.

Wertheim, an optometrist and philanthropist, is the founder of Brain Power, Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of medical equipment. The businessman — whose net worth in 2026 is around US$4 billion, according to Forbes — is also a big name in the Palm Beach real estate market.

Last year, he bought a $62 million waterfront property in Manalapan, a city known for its proximity to Mar-a-Lago and which has recently attracted a string of billionaire buyers, including Oracle co-founder and Trump ally Larry Ellison.

Trump has turned Mar-a-Lago into a frequent meeting place for billionaires and influential executives at lavish charity balls, where auction items such as private lunches or meetings in the Oval Office often fetch millions.

The most recent event raised $7.5 million, and invitations to candlelit dinners during the president’s term came with a price tag of $1 million per person.

The role of Mar-a-Lago

The ultra-wealthy have been willing to pitch in to secure a closer seat to a president who has actively cultivated direct personal relationships with business executives.

In the run-up to Trump’s second inauguration and throughout his second term, CEOs and technology leaders — including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos — made frequent visits to Mar-a-Lago, and some eliminated travel time by purchasing land adjacent to Trump’s property.

Bruce Richards, a millionaire hedge fund manager, last year purchased a vacant lot a street away from Mar-a-Lago, an investment that reportedly grants buyers guest privileges at the club without paying the $1 million membership fee.

Ethics advocates have long criticized Trump’s fundraising tactics, calling them “pay to play.” Early in his first term, oversight bodies raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest arising from actions such as doubling Mar-a-Lago membership fees.

Throughout his first term, Trump may have accumulated more than 3,400 such conflicts of interest, including visits by foreign officials to Trump properties and taxpayer spending directed to the president’s companies, according to a 2020 analysis by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

This week, the Democratic National Committee released a statement attacking Trump’s participation in a fundraising dinner held over the weekend in Washington.

“It’s a presidency that appears to be for sale to the highest bidder. And that’s not good for America,” Jordan Libowitz, CREW communications director, told the Palm Beach Post, referring to the most recent auction at Mar-a-Lago that saw Wertheim as the winner.

True, Trump is far from the first commander in chief to exploit personal access to the president in exchange for donations from billionaires, a clearly bipartisan habit.

Between 1993 and 1996, Bill Clinton allowed 938 major donors and supporters to spend the night in the Lincoln Room, in addition to other benefits such as meals, golf outings and running alongside the president.

During the Obama years, campaign fundraisers donated the maximum amount allowed by law, brought in new donors, and were rewarded with prestigious presidential appointments.