Marble Freedom Trust
The Marble Freedom Trust is an American conservative political advocacy group structured as a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. Such groups, which are not required to publicly disclose their donors, are permitted to spend money advocating for or against candidates in political campaigns, although this type of spending cannot be their primary purpose.[1] Leonard Leo is the group's trustee and chairman.
History
[edit]The Marble Freedom Trust (MFT) was established in April 2020, and by March 2021, it had effectively been given $1.65 billion by Barre Seid. The money was transferred to the MFT in the form of ownership of the electronics company Tripp Lite, by its founder and sole owner Seid. In March 2021, the company was purchased from the Trust by the Eaton Corporation, with the result that the Trust had cash assets of $1.65 billion.[1][2][3]
In the tax year ending in April 2022, the Marble Freedom Trust donated $182.7 million to other organizations and causes.[4]
In 2022, the MFT was headquartered in North Salt Lake, Utah, and its administrative trustee was Tyler Green.[5]
Positions
[edit]The Marble Freedom Trust generally promotes positions and causes consistent with conservatism in the United States.[6]
The MFT aims "to transform ESG environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing into a rallying cry against woke capitalism."[7] Since 2021, the MFT has invested in fighting against both ESG and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at BlackRock, Vanguard, American Airlines, Coca-Cola, State Farm, Major League Baseball and Ticketmaster.[8] In 2024, Leonard Leo said that the Trust would devote $1 billion to "crush liberal dominance", especially in news and entertainment.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Andrew Perez; Andy Kroll; Justin Elliott (2022-08-22). "How a Secretive Billionaire Handed His Fortune to the Architect of the Right-Wing Takeover of the Courts". ProPublica. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
- ^ Griffin, Drew. "New conservative group led by Trump's 'Supreme Court whisperer' gets $1.6B donation". cnn.com. CNN. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ Romboy, Dennis. "How a conservative political group with Utah ties scored a $1.6B donation". deseret.com. Deseret News. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ O’Brien, Rebecca Davis. "Group Tied to Influential Conservative Activist Spent $183 Million in a Year". nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ Schott, Bryan. "A new conservative nonprofit group received one of the largest donations in history. Why is the organization headquartered in Utah?". sltrib.com. Salt Lake City Tribune. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ McGreal, Chris. "Leonard Leo: the secretive rightwinger using billions to reshape America". theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ "Conservatives Come for ESG". wsj.com. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ a b Rogers, Alex (2024-09-09). "Conservative activist launches $1bn crusade to 'crush' liberal America". Financial Times. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
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