The billionaire Napster tycoon Sean Parker, who was targeted by conservationists after he spent millions to damage an ecologically sensitive area of Big Sur, will host Hillary Clinton for a high-dollar fundraiser in Los Angeles, California, on Tuesday.
The minimum donation to the Clinton campaign for guests at his fundraiser is $2,700, according to Deadline, which was first to report the fundraiser.
Parker is the co-founder of the music sharing service Napster, but he made the bulk of his $2.4 billion fortune through Facebook—he was one of the company's first investors and also its first president.
Thanks to his success in the technology industry, Parker was able to spend $10 million on an extravagant wedding in Big Sur along the California coast.
Without receiving any permits, Parker spent $10 million to bring in bulldozers and create "a large movie-set-like wedding site" including "a cottage, fake ruins, waterfalls, staircases and a huge dance floor near iconic redwoods, and a stream with threatened steelhead trout," according to an Associated Press report.
Here are some pictures of the event, which was attended by celebrities such as Allison Williams, Emma Watson, and Olivia Munn.
Parker was ordered to pay a $2.5 million fine by the California Coastal Commission for damage inflicted on the site.
"Nothing says, 'I love the Earth!' quite like bringing bulldozers into an old-growth forest to create a fake ruined castle," wrote the Atlantic following the release of a report by the California Coastal Commission on Parker's wedding. "And to build this fantasy world on a spot that should have been open to regular old middle-class people: That makes it even better."
The California Coastal Commission revealed that Parker went as far as changing the contours of the land around redwood trees, some of which are over 2000 years old.
Existing roads and campsites were graded and contoured to create the appearance of ruins. Stone gateways and walls were constructed. Staircases were crafted around existing habitat and redwood trees. An artificial pond was dug and installed. A stone bridge over the pond was constructed. Several elevated platforms were created, some adjacent to Post Creek (Exhibit 9). Over 100 potted trees and plants were partially planted within the existing road beds and campsites, and lighting was installed in the redwood forest. In addition to the unpermitted development, other items to facilitate the event have also been placed on the site including tents and generators.
Parker complained that strangers on the street were spitting on him in anger following the report.
"My wife and I should be happy right now, elated to have been married," Parker said. "Instead we are being spat upon by complete strangers while walking together on the street, cursed at by a waiter in a restaurant who had read bogus media reports about our wedding, and told by complete strangers that we should get our divorce papers ready since our marriage clearly isn’t going to last."
He became so incensed by the negative attention that he published a 9,500-word defense of his actions, saying that "weddings used to be sacred."
In the defense he revealed that he hired the costume designer from The Lord of the Rings to design "fantasy-inspired costumes" for each guest to wear.
Parker also said the commission was biased against him due to his wealth.
"Not wanting to appear 'soft' on rich people in a high-profile case, the commission took a hard line in its staff report on the possible harm caused," he wrote. "So-called 'rich guys' don’t get any special treatment with the commission. If anything they get a worse deal."
Parker is a major donor to the Democratic Party and to Hillary Clinton.
Parker and his wife, Alexandra Parker, each contributed $298,000 to the Hillary Victory Fund on Dec. 30, 2015.
Parker has also contributed between $1 and $5 million to the Clinton Foundation.
The Clinton campaign did not respond to a request for comment.