A report from the right-of-center watchdog group Americans for Public Trust aims to expose the election-interfering schemes of Hansjörg Wyss, a Swiss billionaire whom conservatives are calling “the new George Soros.”
Wyss, who now resides in Wilson, Wyoming, made his money by founding medical device manufacturer Synthes Holdings AG and co-founding Chelsea FC. He has amassed more than $10 billion, making him richer than Soros. In 2012, Wyss sold Synthes Holdings to Johnson & Johnson for $19.7 billion—in cash.
Wyss, described as a “dark money ATM,” has been financing groups across America’s left-wing network, including Demos, a powerful voter expansion and healthcare advocacy group affiliated with Elizabeth Warren.
“It’s high time for the conservative movement to be among the ranks of George Soros, Hansjörg Wyss, Arabella Advisors and other left-wing philanthropists, going toe-to-toe in the fight to defend our Constitution and its ideals,” APT’s proprietor Leonard Leo told the New York Times in May.
Similarly, money-in-politics watchdog group Capital Research Center has given Wyss the infamous honorific of “the new George Soros” in 2022.
Meanwhile, operatives in the institutional left such as Washington, DC lawyer Marc Elias celebrate Wyss, and his doppelganger George Soros, as “heroes.”
George Soros is a hero and so is Hansjörg Wyss. The Wyss Foundation has donated $1.5 billion to preserve 30% of planet by 2030. Meanwhile Leonard Leo and his network are actively working to block that progress and undermine democracy. https://t.co/qTRfj1BRyD
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) January 25, 2024
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The Wyss Foundation has granted $807 million since 2016, primarily to environmental causes, according to their tax filings. Its advocacy arm, Berger Action Fund, has disbursed $343 million to liberal political groups fighting Republican redistricting efforts.
Between 2016 and 2021, Wyss funneled roughly $200 million into American political activist groups which helped Democratic candidates win elections and helped progressive bureaucratic activists push their policy agendas through local, state, and federal levels. He also funded a number of initiatives to oppose President Donald Trump’s re-election efforts.
These groups include the progressive powerhouse Center for American Progress—which has been described as “Obama’s Idea Factory in Washington” by TIME and has contributed about 70 staffers to the Biden administration between 2021 and 2022—and the Super PAC Priorities USA, as well as voter registration groups to improve Democratic turnout. Further, Wyss’s funds have supported several news outlets with progressive slants as well as efforts to block President Trump’s various bureaucratic and judicial nominees.
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics, economics, and culture for Valuetainment. Follow Shane on X (Twitter).
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