The billionaires rallying behind Trump after his conviction

But in late May, Mr Schwarzman said that he shared “the concern of most Americans that our economic, immigration and foreign policies are taking the country in the wrong direction”.

He also said the “dramatic rise of antisemitism has led me to focus on the consequences of the upcoming election with greater urgency”.

Other prominent billionaires who have thrown their support behind Mr Trump so far include hedge fund founders John Paulson and Robert Mercer, as well as fracking pioneer Harold Hamm and casino mogul Steve Wynn.

Billionaire investor Nelson Peltz – who said after the US Capitol riot that he regretted voting for Trump in 2020 – has had a change of heart and hosted the former president at his oceanfront Florida mansion in March.

Elon Musk, on the other hand, has previously said he will not be donating to either candidate this electoral cycle, although he does plan to host a livestreamed town-hall style event with Mr Trump.

Similarly, billionaire tech financier and prominent Republican donor Peter Thiel has reportedly turned down requests to donate to the Trump campaign and was said not to be planning any contributions this electoral cycle.

Shaun Maguire, a partner at prominent venture capital firm Sequoia, announced a $300,000 donation to Mr Trump within minutes of last week’s verdict, arguing that the trial was unfair.

In a lengthy post on X, Mr Maguire outlined a number of reasons for supporting Mr Trump, including the Biden administration’s handling of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and “weakness” in the Middle East.

The various legal cases against Mr Trump, Mr Maguire added, also served as a “radicalising experience”.

“There’s a real chance President Trump is convicted of felony charges and sentenced to prison,” he wrote. “Bluntly, that’s part of why I’m supporting him. I believe our justice system is being weaponised against him.”

To date, the Biden campaign has largely surpassed the Trump campaign as far as fundraising.

By the end of April, the campaign had a record $192m cash-on-hand, compared to the Trump campaign’s $93.1m.

That same month, however, the Trump campaign raised $76m, surpassing their Democratic rivals for the first time in this election cycle. The Biden campaign raised $51m in April, sharply down from the $90m-plus raised a month earlier.

But despite all the fundraising, Professor Justin Buchler, a campaign finance expert from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, told the BBC: “Money is not going to be determinative.

“The primary role of money in a campaign is to increase name recognition. Everybody already knows who Donald Trump and Joe Biden are.”

A review of data from CBS, the BBC’s US partner, has found that Mr Trump’s fundraising tends to enjoy a boost during key moments in his various legal battles.

Before last week’s conviction, his single best fundraising days were 4 April last year – the day of his arraignment in New York City – as well as 25 August, when a mugshot of him taken in Georgia was released.

The BBC has contacted the Trump and Biden campaigns for comment on the fundraising.