# Hedge Funds Hedge funds are lightly regulated investment vehicles that pool capital from wealthy individuals and institutional investors, employing aggressive strategies — leverage, short selling, derivatives — to generate returns. Their managers have become some of the wealthiest and most politically influential figures in American life, funneling enormous sums into campaigns, super PACs, and [[Dark Money]] networks. The hedge fund industry's political influence extends across both parties but has been particularly consequential on the right, where figures like Robert Mercer helped finance the rise of [[MAGA]] and Breitbart. The industry benefits from the carried interest tax loophole and from the [[Deregulation]] agenda that has weakened oversight since the repeal of Glass-Steagall. Hedge funds also increasingly overlap with [[Private Equity]] in their strategies and political footprint.