A little-known banking heir has quietly handed over a multimillion-dollar New England estate to the anti-vaccine nonprofit Robert F. Kennedy Jr. built into a national force. Timothy Mellon, the reclusive megadonor who poured $150 million into President Trump's super PAC and $25 million into a pro-Kennedy super PAC during the 2024 campaign, transferred two adjoining Lyme, Connecticut, properties to Children's Health Defense last August, records show. The 300-acre spread at the junction of the Connecticut and Eightmile Rivers—complete with pool, tennis court, and multiple buildings—was appraised this year at $5.5 million and sold to the group for $0, the New York Times reports.
Mellon, 83, agreed to pay for upkeep and improvements for five years and retained access to parts of the land, including a family cemetery, under a separate agreement. Neither Mellon nor Children's Health Defense nor its president, Mary Holland, would comment on the deal, and the group's plans for the property are unclear, the Times reports. The donation underscores Mellon's deepening ties to Kennedy and his organization, which has promoted false claims about vaccines and now brings in up to roughly $23 million a year.
Kennedy, who became Trump's health secretary after dropping his presidential bid, left the group's leadership in late 2024 but has described Mellon as a key financial backer since the pandemic. The News Times reports that vaccine skepticism has become one of Mellon's favorite causes in recent years. In an essay in the American Spectator last year, he wrote that after donating to the group and meeting Kennedy, "it became immediately apparent that we agreed on many more issues than just the COVID problem." Forbes estimates that Mellon, who donated $130 million to pay troops during the government shutdown last year, has given more than half his $1 billion fortune to political causes.
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