Nelson Peltz, a billionaire hedge fund manager from Palm Beach, reportedly is rethinking his support for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

The Financial Times cited “people familiar” with Peltz’s thinking in a report over the weekend, among many in recent weeks highlighting various elements of DeSantis’ much dissected rocky start as a formally declared candidate for the 2024 nomination.

“Peltz has taken issue with his stance on abortion,” the Financial Times reported.

The Financial Times said Peltz declined to comment, but quoted a person familiar with his thinking saying: “Nelson Peltz thinks that most of DeSantis’s policies are acceptable, but his position on abortion is way too severe. … That may undermine Peltz’s desire to financially support DeSantis as a candidate.”

Earlier this year, DeSantis supported and signed into law sweeping restrictions banning virtually all abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy. In 2022, DeSantis signed a law banning almost all abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy. The 15-week ban is in effect; the six-week is on pause until the state Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the 15-week ban.

Polling shows DeSantis’ position is more restrictive than most Americans support. Gallup reported earlier this month that 69% of Americans said abortion should be legal in the first trimester of pregnancy, which runs through the 12th week and most oppose laws that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected around the sixth week of pregnancy.

Peltz isn’t the only billionaire hedge fund manager seen as holding doubts about DeSantis two months after the governor formally announced his candidacy, following more than a year of unofficially campaigning and courting supporters.

The Financial Times said Ken Griffin, the hedge fund manager who moved his firms and himself to Miami last year and had been a public cheerleader and donor to the governor’s reelection campaign, has also cooled.

Billionaire donors cool on Ron DeSantis over rightwing policies https://t.co/mcaToEfiQn

— Financial Times (@FT) July 23, 2023

In April, the New York Times reported that Griffin’s support for DeSantis had become “murkier” than people thought.

The Times, also citing people familiar with Griffin’s thinking, said Griffin was concerned about DeSantis’ statements about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the DeSantis-signed six-week abortion ban.

Citing a person familiar with Griffin’s thinking, the Financial Times reported he “objects to a recent clampdown on teaching about gender and sexuality and DeSantis’s ongoing fight with Disney.”

The Financial Times said Griffin declined to comment on specific candidates, but said that, “As the presidential campaigns unfold, I am assessing how the policies of each candidate will strengthen our democracy.”

“I care deeply about individual rights and freedom, economic policies that encourage prosperity and upward mobility, children having access to a high-quality education, ensuring our communities are safe, and a strong national defense that secures the future of the United States and its allies,” he added.

The DeSantis campaign did not immediately return a Monday morning request for comment about Peltz and Griffin.

DeSantis is attempting to refocus his White House bid. Less than two months after entering the race, he’s already cutting staff while facing new questions about his aggressive spending, his media strategy and his apparent willingness to brawl with any and all foes except for former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 presidential nomination.

The RealClearPolitics average of polling of Republican primary voters currently has Trump 32 points ahead of DeSantis. When DeSantis formally entered the race on May 24, Trump was 34 points ahead. In January, it was closer, with Trump 16 points ahead of DeSantis.

Amid the questions, the DeSantis campaign held a retreat for major donors in Utah. Politico, citing three people who were present, reported that top campaign officials “acknowledged to donors on Sunday that they’d spent too much money and that further changes would be made as they look to recover from a disappointing start.”

DeSantis’ team has raised $150 million for his presidential ambitions so far. The vast majority, $130 million, has gone to a super PAC run by allies who cannot legally coordinate with the campaign.

The DeSantis campaign itself raised more than $20 million in the first six weeks he was in the race, though federal filings released over the weekend revealed that he and his team had burned through more than $8 million in spending that included more than 100 paid staffers, a large security detail and luxury travel.

DeSantis’ team may have begun to take modest steps to cut costs elsewhere.

There was a reduced security presence last week as DeSantis made multiple stops in South Carolina. It was a notable shift from previous DeSantis appearances across the country that featured an unusually large private security detail — in addition to the Florida law enforcement officials usually at his side.

Already, DeSantis’ campaign has spent over $686,000 in expenses marked “travel,” much of which appears to be connected to private jet flights. The Florida governor, who has long preferred to fly private, paid out $179,000 to companies that specifically charter planes, according to an Associated Press analysis of his latest filing with the FEC. Under that same expense category, there is an additional $483,000 expenditure to a company called N2024D LLC, a business created in late May and controlled by the founders of a political compliance firm — a cutout that satisfies federal rules for campaign finance disclosure but masks the ultimate recipient of the money.

Peltz, who heads Trian Fund Management, had sought a seat on on the board of the Walt Disney Co., the company with which DeSantis has been feuding. CNBC reported Peltz called off the proxy fight after Disney unveiled a cost-cutting and restructuring plan that included 7,000 layoffs. “Now Disney plans to do everything we wanted them to do,” Peltz said on CNBC at the time.

The PageSix gossip site reported in February that DeSantis was not invited to the 2022 wedding of Nicola Peltz and Brooklyn Beckham last year at a celebrity-filled affair at the Peltz mansion in Palm Beach.

Peltz is Nelson Peltz’s daughter and Beckham is the son of David Beckham, the soccer star and one of the owners of the Inter Miami soccer team, which plays in Fort Lauderdale.

Court documents in a lawsuit between Nelson Peltz and ex-wedding planners suggest Nicola Peltz was adamant that DeSantis not be among the hundreds of guests.

“For example, Nicola was adamant about not inviting certain politicians to the wedding, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, as revealed in her text message in the Chat Group on March 3, 2022,” the lawsuit says. It reports that she wrote in the group that “desantis must be OFF THE GUEST LIST.”

This news article was supplemented with information from The Associated Press.