# Donor Network Hub The front door for **the people who fund the American right and the machinery their money moves through**. This hub answers three questions: who writes the checks, through which vehicles, and what the money buys. This hub is navigation. The analysis lives on the pages it routes to: - [[Campaign Finance Hub]] — the **legal architecture**: statutes, court cases, the FEC, and why unlimited money became legal. - [[Dark Money Ecosystem]] — how **undisclosed** money moves through 501(c)(4)s, donor-advised funds and trusts. - [[Dynasties Hub]] — **families** acting as single political units across generations. - [[Philanthropy Ecosystem]] — the full **philanthropic** capital structure, left to right. - [[Lobbying Hub]] — the influence-for-access market that runs alongside the donations. ## How the network is built ``` DONORS ──────────► VEHICLES ──────────────► RECIPIENTS individuals super PACs (disclosed) candidates & campaigns families 501(c)(4)s (undisclosed) judges & courts companies donor-advised funds think tanks & ideas private foundations state legislatures trusts media & data operations ▲ │ └──── convenings: summits, councils ◄──────┘ (where donors coordinate) ``` The **vehicle** is the analytic key. Super PACs have to disclose their donors, so the largest checks of the Trump era show up by name in FEC filings. The long-game institution building runs through vehicles that disclose nothing: 501(c)(4)s, donor-advised funds and trusts. Read any donor's page with one question in mind: which kind of vehicle are they using, and why that one? ## 1. The donors ### Super PAC megadonors: election-cycle money, disclosed - [[Elon Musk]] — funds [[America PAC]], a single-donor vehicle that took over a party function (turnout); a nine-figure 2026 check to the [[Senate Leadership Fund]]. Ledger: [[Elon Musk Political Donations]]. - [[Timothy Mellon]] — the Mellon banking heir and railroad builder; gave [[MAGA Inc]] about $150 million in the 2024 cycle alone. - [[Miriam Adelson]] — [[Preserve America PAC]] in 2024; the [[Senate Leadership Fund]] and [[Congressional Leadership Fund]] in 2026. Family: [[Adelson Family]]. - [[Jeff Yass]] — school choice through [[Club for Growth]] and [[School Freedom Fund]], Rand Paul through [[Protect Freedom PAC]], Pennsylvania through [[Commonwealth Leaders Fund]]. - [[Dick Uihlein]] and [[Liz Uihlein]] — the Uline fortune behind [[Restoration PAC]], the [[Restoration of America]] constellation and [[Fair Courts America]]. Family: [[Uihlein Family]]. - [[Ken Griffin]] — establishment-Republican money to the [[Senate Leadership Fund]] and governor races. See [[Ken Griffin Ecosystem]]. - [[Stephen Schwarzman]] — [[MAGA Inc]] and the [[Senate Leadership Fund]]. - [[Paul Singer]] — Senate money; chairs the board of the [[Manhattan Institute]]. - [[Diane Hendricks]] — ABC Supply founder; a Wisconsin powerhouse and a large [[MAGA Inc]] donor. - [[Ron Weiser]] — Michigan Republican financier and former state party chair. ### Movement funders: the long game in institutions, courts and ideas - [[Charles Koch]] — the [[Koch Network]], coordinated through [[Stand Together]] and the [[Koch Donor Summit Model]]. - [[Barre Seid]] — gave a company worth about $1.6 billion to [[Marble Freedom Trust]], the largest known political donation in U.S. history. - [[Robert Mercer]] and [[Rebekah Mercer]] — media and data infrastructure; [[Mercer Family Foundation]], [[Government Accountability Institute]]. - [[Betsy DeVos]] — school choice and Christian-right institutions. Family: [[DeVos-Prince Family]]; see [[DeVos Family Ecosystem]]. - [[Harlan Crow]] — the Clarence Thomas gifts; the case study in private wealth and judicial access. - [[Sheldon Adelson]] (died 2021) — the template [[Miriam Adelson]] now runs. - [[Sean Fieler]] — anti-abortion and Catholic-right financier. - [[Julie Jenkins Fancelli]] — Publix heiress; the largest identified funder of the January 6 rally infrastructure. ### State-level machines - [[Tim Dunn]], [[Farris Wilks]] and [[Dan Wilks]] — the Texas hard right: [[Defend Texas Liberty PAC]], then [[Texans United for a Conservative Majority]], with the [[Texas Public Policy Foundation]] writing the bills. Family: [[Wilks Brothers]]. - [[Jonathan Knutz]] — Fort Worth money behind [[Lone Star Liberty PAC]] in the 2026 Texas Senate race. - [[Jeff Yass]] (Pennsylvania), [[Dick Uihlein]] (Wisconsin and Illinois), [[Diane Hendricks]] (Wisconsin) and [[Ron Weiser]] (Michigan) — see above. ### Tech-right donors - [[Peter Thiel]] — the founder-funder of the [[Thiel Network]]; [[Protect Ohio Values PAC]] made [[JD Vance]] a senator. Ledger: [[Peter Thiel Political Donations]]. - [[Marc Andreessen]] and [[Ben Horowitz]] — the [[Andreessen Horowitz]] bloc; among the largest backers of [[Fairshake PAC]] and the [[Crypto Super PACs]]. - [[Winklevoss Twins]] — Bitcoin money into [[MAGA Inc]] and [[Digital Freedom Fund]]. - [[David Sacks]] · [[Joe Lonsdale]] · [[Doug Leone]] · [[Larry Ellison]] · [[Palmer Luckey]] - [[Bill Ackman]] — the Democratic-donor-to-MAGA pipeline. - Maps: [[Musk-Thiel Funding Map]] · [[Crypto-Political Machine]] · [[The Tech Right Hub]] ### Operators: they direct money but are not its principal source - [[Leonard Leo]] — controls the Marble Freedom Trust network that funds the judicial pipeline. - [[Chris Buskirk]] — co-founder of the [[Rockbridge Network]]; runs [[Turnout for America]]. - [[Steven Law]] — runs the [[Senate Leadership Fund]] and its 501(c)(4) twin, [[One Nation]]. - [[Carrie Severino]] — president of the [[Concord Fund]]. - [[Taylor Budowich]] — former executive director of [[MAGA Inc]]. ## 2. The vehicles, by legal type Each type's legal page explains what it may and may not do: [[Super PACs]] · [[501(c)(4)]] · [[Donor-Advised Fund]] · [[Hybrid PAC]] · [[527 Organization]]. **Super PACs** (unlimited money; donors disclosed) - Trump-aligned: [[MAGA Inc]] · [[America PAC]] · [[Preserve America PAC]] · [[Turnout for America]] · [[America First Action]] · [[Save America PAC]] - Leadership-aligned: [[Senate Leadership Fund]] · [[Congressional Leadership Fund]] · [[Texas PAC]] - Single-donor or donor-dominated: [[Restoration PAC]] · [[Fair Courts America]] · [[School Freedom Fund]] · [[Protect Freedom PAC]] · [[Protect Ohio Values PAC]] · [[Aurora Action Network]] · [[Protecting America's Future]] - Movement and ideological: [[Club for Growth]] (and its super PAC) · [[Win It Back PAC]] · [[Sentinel Action Fund]] · [[Lone Star Liberty PAC]] - Industry: [[Fairshake PAC]] · [[Digital Freedom Fund]] - Hybrid: [[Way Back PAC]] **501(c)(4) "social welfare" groups** (unlimited money; donors not disclosed) - [[Americans for Prosperity]] · [[Concord Fund]] · [[One Nation]] · [[American Action Network]] · [[Club for Growth]] **Pass-throughs** (the anonymizing layer) - [[DonorsTrust]] · [[Donors Capital Fund]] · [[Marble Freedom Trust]] · [[The 85 Fund]] **Private foundations** (tax-deductible; grants disclosed on the 990, usually a year or more later) - Movement foundations: [[Bradley Foundation]] · [[Sarah Scaife Foundation]] · [[Searle Freedom Trust]] · [[Stand Together]] - Family foundations: [[Mercer Family Foundation]] · [[Uihlein Family Foundation]] · [[Yass Foundation]] · [[Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation]] · [[Thiel Foundation]] **State-level committees** - [[Defend Texas Liberty PAC]] · [[Texans United for a Conservative Majority]] · [[Commonwealth Leaders Fund]] · [[Restoration of America]] ## 3. The convenings: where donors coordinate Money is coordinated in private rooms before it shows up in filings. - [[Koch Donor Summit Model]] — the twice-yearly summits that turned individual fortunes into a collective war chest; the template for everything below. - [[Council for National Policy]] — the invitation-only body, founded in 1981, where donors, operatives and religious-right leaders meet three times a year. See [[Council for National Policy Ecosystem]]. - [[Rockbridge Network]] — the New Right's donor coalition, co-founded by [[JD Vance]] and [[Chris Buskirk]]. - [[Ziklag]] — a secretive charity of ultra-wealthy Christian families organized around the [[Seven Mountain Mandate]]. - [[State Policy Network]] — not a donor club, but the grant destination that ties the foundations together state by state. ## 4. Donor → vehicle → what it buys | Donor | Principal vehicles | What the money buys | |---|---|---| | [[Barre Seid]] | [[Marble Freedom Trust]] → [[Concord Fund]], [[The 85 Fund]] | The judicial pipeline: confirmations, the [[Federalist Society]] network | | [[Charles Koch]] | [[Americans for Prosperity]], [[Stand Together]], [[State Policy Network]] | Permanent state-level policy infrastructure and a field army | | [[Dick Uihlein]] | [[Restoration PAC]], [[Fair Courts America]], [[Club for Growth]] | Election-denial candidates; state supreme court seats | | [[Jeff Yass]] | [[School Freedom Fund]], [[Protect Freedom PAC]], [[Commonwealth Leaders Fund]] | Voucher-friendly legislators; Rand Paul; Pennsylvania politics | | [[Tim Dunn]] / [[Farris Wilks]] | [[Defend Texas Liberty PAC]], [[Texans United for a Conservative Majority]], [[Texas Public Policy Foundation]] | Primary challenges that pulled the Texas House rightward | | [[Elon Musk]] | [[America PAC]], [[Senate Leadership Fund]] | A privately owned turnout operation; the 2026 Senate map | | [[Timothy Mellon]] | [[MAGA Inc]] | Trump's main outside-spending vehicle | | [[Miriam Adelson]] | [[Preserve America PAC]], [[Senate Leadership Fund]], [[Congressional Leadership Fund]] | Trump in 2024; the congressional majorities in 2026 | | [[Peter Thiel]] | [[Protect Ohio Values PAC]], [[Rockbridge Network]] | JD Vance's Senate seat and the network behind him | | [[Marc Andreessen]] / [[Ben Horowitz]] | [[Fairshake PAC]], [[MAGA Inc]] | A crypto-friendly Congress and regulatory framework | | [[Robert Mercer]] / [[Rebekah Mercer]] | [[Mercer Family Foundation]], [[Government Accountability Institute]] | Media and data infrastructure; 2016 campaign personnel | | [[Ken Griffin]] | [[Senate Leadership Fund]] | Establishment-Republican Senate control | | Foundations ([[Bradley Foundation]], [[Sarah Scaife Foundation]], [[Searle Freedom Trust]]) | Grants via [[DonorsTrust]] and directly | Think tanks, legal shops, campus programs: the idea supply | ## 5. The 2026 cycle on the ledger Individual checks of $1 million or more, each with its own FEC-sourced page in the deals ledger ([[Deals Hub]]). The newest entries come from the daily midterm-money run. - **Musk:** [[Musk 158M to Senate Leadership Fund Q3 2026]] · [[Musk March 2026 America PAC Contribution]] · [[America PAC 100M Midterm Turnout Program]] · [[Elon Musk 1.5M to Aurora Action Network]] - **Uihlein:** [[Uihlein 66.7M to Restoration of America PAC Q3 2026]] - **Adelson:** [[Adelson 2026 Cycle Megadonations Aggregate]] - **Yass:** [[Yass 2026 Cycle Federal Donations Aggregate]] · [[Yass 20M to V PAC Ramaswamy Ohio]] · [[Jeff Yass 3M to Protect Freedom PAC]] · [[Yass 1M to Team Tennessee PAC]] - **Griffin:** [[Griffin 10M to Senate Leadership Fund]] · [[Griffin 10M to Donalds Florida Governor PAC]] - **Into MAGA Inc:** [[Hendricks 25M to MAGA Inc]] · [[Winklevoss 10M Bitcoin to MAGA Inc]] · [[Isaacman 2M to MAGA Inc August 2026]] · [[Foris DAX 35M to MAGA Inc]] (corporate) - **Others:** [[a16z 2026 Midterm Donation Aggregate]] · [[Schwarzman 5M to Senate Leadership Fund]] · [[Mellon 1M to Congressional Leadership Fund]] · [[Tim Dunn 1.3M to Protecting America's Future]] · [[Knutz 1.1M to Lone Star Liberty PAC]] Race-by-race context: [[2026 Senate Races Hub]] · [[2026 House Races Hub]]. ## 6. Donors in government Some donors take office themselves, which collapses the distance between donor and official. - [[Elon Musk]] — led [[DOGE]] in 2025. - [[Linda McMahon]] — chaired the [[America First Action]] super PAC and the [[America First Policy Institute]]; now Secretary of Education. - [[Jared Isaacman]] — [[MAGA Inc]] donor, now NASA Administrator. - [[Ken Howery]] — Founders Fund co-founder, now U.S. Ambassador to Denmark. - [[Betsy DeVos]] — Secretary of Education in the first Trump term. ## Patterns to watch - **Disclosed is not the same as accountable.** The biggest checks of the Trump era are public. What they buy (access, appointments, policy) mostly is not. Pair this hub with [[Corruption Hub]]. - **The single-donor super PAC.** [[America PAC]], [[Restoration PAC]], [[School Freedom Fund]] and [[Protect Freedom PAC]] are each, in practice, one person's political operation with a committee's legal form. - **Vehicles get swapped and renamed, not abandoned.** When [[Defend Texas Liberty PAC]] became toxic, the same donors moved to [[Texans United for a Conservative Majority]]. Leo's network renames its entities: the Judicial Crisis Network is now the [[Concord Fund]], and the Judicial Education Project is now [[The 85 Fund]]. Follow the donor, not the committee name. - **State-level capture.** Texas (Dunn and the Wilkses), Pennsylvania (Yass), Wisconsin (Uihlein, Hendricks) and Michigan (Weiser) each have a resident megadonor working at the state level, where the same check is a much larger share of the race. ## Related hubs - [[Campaign Finance Hub]] · [[Dark Money Ecosystem]] · [[Dark Money Timeline]] · [[How Campaign Money Moves]] - [[Dynasties Hub]] · [[Philanthropy Ecosystem]] · [[Lobbying Hub]] · [[Deals Hub]] - [[The Tech Right Hub]] · [[Corruption Hub]] · [[Plutocracy Lexicon]] · [[Oligarchy]] - [[People Hub]] · [[Organizations Hub]] · [[Ecosystems Hub]]