Soft Money 100: Funding the 527's
The top "soft money" contributors to special-interest groups. Everyone knows about George Soros, but the billionaire financier isn't alone in pouring millions into soft money groups. Below is a list of the top 25 contributors. Check back in coming weeks as we complete the list.
Hard Money 100 | MoJo 100 | The More Things Change... | Are We Better Off?
| Rank | Hard Money Rank |
Rank in 2000 |
Donor Name | Total Given |
| 1 | N/A | 300 | George Soros Soros Fund Management, New York, NY |
$6,530,715 |
| 2 | N/A | N/A | Linda Pritzker Sustainable World Corp., Houston, TX |
$4,000,000 |
| 3 | N/A | N/A | Peter B. Lewis Progressive Insurance Corp., Cleveland, OH |
$3,846,000 |
| 4 | 83 | 13 | Stephen L. Bing Shangri-La Entertainment, Los Angeles, CA |
$2,970,174 |
| 5 | N/A | N/A | Robert D. Glaser (with Sarah) Real Networks, Seattle, WA |
$995,000 |
| 6 | N/A | N/A | Robert L. McKay McKay Investment Group, San Francisco, CA |
$495,000 |
| 7 | N/A | N/A | Susan P. Orr (with Franklin M. Jr.) Telosa Software, Inc., Stanford, CA |
$400,000 |
| 8 | N/A | N/A | Nancy P. Burnett (with Robin) Sea Studios Inc., Carmel, CA |
$400,000 |
| 9 | N/A | N/A | Shari Foos (with Richard) Self-employed therapist, Encino, CA |
$345,000 |
| 10 | 25 | 111 | Agnes Varis (with Karl Leichtman) Agvar Chemicals, New York, NY |
$335,000 |
| 11 | N/A | N/A | Richard Gilder Gilder, Gagnon & Howe, New York, NY |
$300,000 |
| 12 | N/A | N/A | Elizabeth Gilmore Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, New York, NY |
$250,000 |
| 13 | N/A | N/A | John Hunting Retired, Grand Rapids, MI |
$230,000 |
| 14 | 11 | 1 | S. Daniel Abraham (with Ewa) Center for Middle East Peace/Econ Coop, West Palm Beach, FL |
$200,000 |
| 15 | N/A | N/A | Bruce Rauner (with Diana) GTCR Golder Rauner, Winnetka, IL |
$200,000 |
| 16 | N/A | N/A | Maconda B. O'Connor (with Ralph S.) Self-employed therapist, Houston, TX |
$200,000 |
| 17 | N/A | N/A | Stephen Distler (with Roxanne) Warburg Pincus, Princeton, NJ |
$195,000 |
| 18 | N/A | N/A | Jackson T. Stephens Stephens Media Group, Little Rock, AR |
$175,000 |
| 19 | N/A | N/A | Lewis B. Cullman (with Dorothy) Cullman Ventures Inc., New York, NY |
$150,000 |
| 20 | N/A | N/A | Anne Bartley Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, San Francisco, CA |
$120,000 |
| 21 | N/A | N/A | Julie Packard Monterey Bay Aquarium, Soquel, CA |
$100,024 |
| 22 | N/A | 251 | Andrew Rappaport (with Deborah) August Capital, Woodside, CA |
$100,000 |
| 23 | N/A | N/A | Gladys Cofrin Investor, Gainesville, FL |
$100,000 |
| 24 | N/A | N/A | Sol Price Investor, La Jolla, CA |
$100,000 |
| 25 | N/A | N/A | Joseph DiMenna Zweig-Dimenna Associates, New York, NY |
$100,000 |
About the Data: The Mother Jones 100 lists are drawn from data submitted to the Federal Election Commission or the Internal Revenue Service and were compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit research organization in Washington, D.C.
The lists have been updated to reflect last-minute donations reported by the FEC through February 1, 2004 and to the IRS through April 1, 2004. Totals for individual donors include contributions from spouses and dependent children.