Marvel and Disney are likely happy they no longer need to deal with the headache that is Ike Perlmutter. He is one of the many high-profile names who donated money towards President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project. The Washington Post has reported a list of all the major donors as well as the amounts donated. Perlmutter is the former CEO of Marvel and was removed from the position in March 2023. He was part of layoffs impacting 7,000 jobs and was meant to cut about $5.5 billion in expenses.

Perlmutter, whose The Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation Inc., is listed as having donated $20.27 million towards the project.

Perlmutter is listed along with the Adelson Family Foundation, Apple, Nividia, Google, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Microsoft, Palantir Technologies, Comcast NBCUniversal, Meta, Amazon, Salesforce, TikTok investors, and more. The list is filled with companies with interests before the federal government. One individual not on the list is President Trump who has stated “It’s being paid for a hundred percent by me and some friends of mine.” Numbers show it’s 100% his “friends” and 0% him.

Perlmutters’ $20.27 million is the sixth largest amount listed in the report. It shows a total of $333 million from private donors and there’s an additional $77 million from donors who have requested anonymity. It also doesn’t include in-kind donations. The full list obtained by The Post includes 67 individuals who have donated over $10,000, they have revealed all of the donors who have given over $100,000, 57 of them.

The ballroom donations are routed through the Trust for the National Mall, a D.C.-based nonprofit whose mission is to restore and preserve the National Mall and the White House grounds. Numerous lawmakers and organizations have raised concern that the project is a way to funnel money towards Trump in exchange for favors. The Post’s reporting lays out numerous examples of the conflicts.

Perlmutter’s reign at Marvel was one of controversy. The elusive individual is rarely photographed and is known for his tightness with money. A story goes he once pulled paperclips out of garbage cans for reuse. His relationship with Marvel Studios was contentious, butting heads with Kevin Feige. He hadn’t been involved with the movies since 2015 and lost control of television in 2019. Perlmutter also attempted to put a friend on the Disney board resulting in a proxy battle.

Outside of Disney, Perlmutter is/was a strong support of President Donald Trump, advising on Veterans affairs, a move that may have violated laws. Perlmutter also donated to organizations tied to the January 6th attack on the US Capitol.

In 2009, Perlmutter sold Marvel to Disney for $4 billion.