New York Post: Lefty groups behind ‘grassroots’ anti-Trump protests in US propped up by billionaires and dark-money network
May 5, 2025
Dozens of lefty groups behind the country’s supposedly “grassroots” May Day protests have been largely bankrolled by two billionaires and a dark-money network of progressive nonprofits.
More than $500 million from Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss’ organizations, hedge-fund tycoon George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and the dark-money Arabella network flowed to the progressive groups between fiscal years 2016 and 2023, according to an analysis shared with The Post.
The funding wasn’t intended for the May Day protests per se, but it has been propping up many of the self-styled “grassroots” progressive activist groups over time.
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“The hypocrisy of the May Day protests is glaring,” said Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust, to The Post.
“These organizations project the illusion of being driven by everyday Americans, but in reality they’re being bankrolled by some of the biggest dark-money megadonors in politics.”
Starting Thursday, on May Day, organizers put together more than 1,000 protests across the country to demonstrate against President Trump, activity that spilled into the weekend.
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About three dozen of the participating groups have raked in about $293.6 million from Wyss’ groups, $47 million from the Arabella network and $194.2 million from Soros’ Open Society Foundations, according to an assessment reviewed and checked by The Post.
Some of the most prominent left-wing activist groups in the anti-Trump demonstrations last week were the Sunrise Movement, Indivisible and Planned Parenthood.
Tax filings and other records show that the Sunrise Movement took in $2,070,000 from funders in the so-called Arabella network, and Indivisible got $107,000 from the Arabella network, $6.5 million from Wyss groups and $7.6 million from Soros’ Open Society Foundations, while Planned Parenthood Federation of America accrued $1.6 million from the Arabella network, almost $6 million from Wyss’ groups and $19.7 million from Soros’ group.
“The Open Society Foundations did not fund or coordinate the May Day protests,” a rep for the Open Society Foundations told The Post.
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The Arabella network data includes IRS Form 990 information for the Sixteen Thirty Fund, North Fund, New Venture Fund and Hopewell Fund — nonprofit groups that the Washington, DC-based Arabella Advisors services with operational and administrative support.
Wyss’ groups include activities from the eponymous Wyss Foundation — his charitable group — and the Berger Action Fund, his advocacy arm.
Because of his Swiss citizenship, Wyss, 89, is precluded from donating to US political candidates. But he has emerged as a top backer of lefty causes in America nonetheless by pumping cash into dark-money groups.
Dark money in these cases refers to political spending that is not subject to financial disclosure requirements, which helps shield donor identities.
Wyss made his fortune from the medical-device-maker company Synthes, which he sold more than a decade ago to Johnson & Johnson.
One of the largest groups to partake in protests that benefited from Wyss was Families Over Billionaires, the trade name for the massive liberal dark-money Sixteen Thirty Fund, which received more than $278 million from his organizations, records show.
A Wyss representative did not return a Post request for comment.
The May Day demonstrations across the US were the latest in anti-Trump protests that have taken place since his 2024 election victory, which have been orchestrated by groups that have, in part, received billionaire cash.
