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Steyer has been one of most generous Democratic donors in the past few election cycles, pouring at least $236 million in federal elections since 2014, according to the Center for Responsive Politics' analysis of campaign finance data.

Steyer quickly rose to the single biggest political contributor in 2014 when he funneled nearly $74 million into federal elections through a super PAC he launched that year, NextGen Climate Action.

He has since remained as one of the top donors, spending more than $91 million during 2016 election cycle and another $74 million in the last cycle.

The California billionaire also dropped $12 million into Need to Impeach in its first year. Steyer's Need to Impeach campaign is also one of the biggest online ad spenders. According to political ad spending data from Facebook and Google, the group has spent at least $8 million on online ads since May 2018, when the platforms started disclosing ad spending data.

So far this election cycle, Steyer has already given multiple seven figure checks totaling $14 million to his NextGen Climate Action Committee, according to campaign finance reports filed to the Federal Election Commission.

To seek the Democratic nomination, he has stepped down from his leadership roles at both NextGen America and Need to Impeach, but he \"has committed over $50 million through 2020 to ensure both organizations fulfill their missions,\" according to the release. Steyer's outside groups position him to begin his presidential ambitions with a robust grassroots network, despite his late entry into the race.

The former hedge fund investor joins the crowded field with only one week before the qualifying deadline for the second Democratic debates in Detroit at the end of this month. To land on a debate stage, he will need to cross the 65,000 donor mark or garner 1 percent in at least three polls, but both appear unlikely in such a short time frame.

Even if he accumulates 65,000 donors, Steyer would be the 21st candidate to qualify and likely be edged out by the 20 other candidates who have secured a spot through polling, according to the Democratic National Committee's tiebreaker rules.

ABC News' John Verhovek contributed to this report.

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