Big Tech

Foundation Watch
Omidyar’s Political Machine: From Tech Billionaire to Mega-Donor
Pierre Omidyar is hardly a household name, but he fits the typical mold of left-wing billionaire. He’s a tech mogul turned philanthropist, whose “charity” flows to hundreds of groups involved…
by Hayden Ludwig on June 30, 2022

Foundation Watch
Omidyar’s Political Machine: The Omidyar Nexus
For whatever reason, the Omidyar Family Foundation proved insufficient and was replaced in 2004 by the Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm, and Omidyar Network Fund, a foundation. These were…
by Hayden Ludwig on June 30, 2022

Foundation Watch
Omidyar’s Political Machine: Funders Committee
Pierre Omidyar’s most political spending is channeled through the Democracy Fund and its “sister,” Democracy Fund Voice. The former is a member of the Funders Committee for Civic Participation, which…
by Hayden Ludwig on June 30, 2022

Foundation Watch
Omidyar’s Political Machine: Democracy Alliance
Since 2004, major liberal donors, foundations, and special interest groups have met regularly at Democracy Alliance conferences to develop and coordinate the “activities of a permanent ‘left[-wing] infrastructure,’” to quote…
by Hayden Ludwig on June 30, 2022

Foundation Watch
Omidyar’s Political Machine: Funding the Left
We’ve traced millions of dollars in grants flowing to other pass-through funders, including NEO Philanthropy, the Proteus Fund, and the Tides Foundation (including their (c)(4) arms). As with Arabella, these…
by Hayden Ludwig on June 30, 2022

Podcast
InfluenceWatch Podcast #223: Anti-Trust Crackdown
The actions of Big Tech companies—most prominently Twitter and Facebook’s decision to ban then-President Donald Trump from their platforms—have led conservatives to consider invoking anti-trust powers of which they have…
by Michael Watson on June 17, 2022

Podcast
InfluenceWatch Podcast #221: Anti-Trust and Distrust
The actions of Big Tech companies—most prominently Twitter and Facebook’s decision to ban then-President Donald Trump from their platforms—have led conservatives to consider invoking anti-trust powers of which…
by Michael Watson on June 3, 2022

Organization Trends
Elon Musk, the Omicron Puppy, and Satire That May Save Twitter
Pulling off the Hunter Biden laptop incident was comparatively easy for Twitter’s woke police. But this doesn’t work so well in a growing minefield of satire accounts and the people…
by Ken Braun on April 22, 2022

Philanthropy
Elon Musk’s Philanthropy Is Still Big Philanthropy
Boy-genius Elon Musk—of SpaceX, Tesla, and $5.7 billion in charitable gifts no one’s yet seen distributed—nearly broke the internet this week when first he became the largest single shareholder of…
by Sarah Lee on April 6, 2022

Podcast
InfluenceWatch Podcast #199: Auditing Equity
While conservatives chafe under the threat of censorship and “de-platforming” by Big Tech companies, liberals are pressuring Congress to make the left-wing industry even more left wing through “equity audits,”…
by Michael Watson on December 17, 2021