Revealed: Left-Wing Billionaire Pierre Omidyar Bankrolls Group Leading Corporate Boycott Campaign Against Elon Musk

Pierre Omidyar, a left-wing billionaire who is also a media donor, is behind dark-money group. He has kept its donors secret for almost a year. And he is leading a boycott campaign against Elon Musk.

Omidyar was the eBay founder and financial backer. Intercept and ProPublica, donated $509,500 to Accountable Tech in 2021 and 2022, according to a recently updated List of Grants Omidyar’s foundation made the disclosure. Omidyar also donated $2 million to at most six other organizations that were targeted by Musk. criticizing As a letter writer and editor, he is also available in op-eds “uniquely ill-suited for the job of running a social media platform” And Warning He said that Twitter would become a “free-for-all of hate and harassment.”

The news reveals one of the primary forces behind the anti-Musk campaign. Accountable Tech has been dodging questions about its donors for months. Accountable Tech, along with other Omidyar-funded organizations, organized campaigns to get corporations to ban Twitter. In the last year, they issued statements and op eds decrying Musk and calling on the government to investigate the billionaire. “I wonder who funds them,” Musk wrote in May in response to a question. Washington Free Beacon Report About the organization’s secrecy.

Omidyar Network spokesperson confirmed the funding but informed the Free Beacon It was not ordered by the foundation to boycott Twitter. “We routinely support organizations that share our vision for a responsible technology system, but do not direct their day-to-day activities,” Spokeswoman Beth Kanter said.

It is not clear what exact amount Omidyar paid to Accountable Tech. Omidyar Network was listed as of Sunday Grants Its website lists a total of $509,500 in donations that were made in 2021 or 2022. After the Free Beacon Reached out to the Omidyar Network for comment Monday Edited Only one $209,000.500 grant was found in its database “North Fund 2022 Accountable Tech P&P Project Funding” On October 24, 2022. It also canceled grants to two other organizations, which had criticized Musk.

Kanter claimed that the website updates were made on Friday but were not reflected in the site’s current state. Free Beacon The website was visited over the weekend. She explained that the foundation has removed all funding that had expired, including an earlier grant to Accountable tech from 2021 to 2022.

The Free Beacon reported last year that Accountable Tech—which calls itself a “small nonprofit taking on Big Tech companies”—has no physical footprint and is a registered trade name of the North Fund, a $66 million nonprofit group that uses aliases to push an array of left-wing causes from a shell office in Washington, D.C.

Accountable Tech didn’t respond to our request for comment.

Omidyar’s connections to the anti-Musk Campaign are notable because of the personal history between these two billionaires. By purchasing PayPal for $1.5billion in 2002, the eBay founder helped Musk climb the ranks of super-wealthy. Musk multiplied his fortune over the next 20 years and rose to the top of the corporate ladder. Forbes billionaire list.

However, the tech moguls find themselves now on opposing sides in the political debate. Omidyar has poured Millions Musk has praised Republicans like Ron DeSantis in Florida and rolled back Twitter’s speech restrictions against conservatives.

Last year, Accountable Tech and UltraViolet—a progressive activist group that received $50,000 from Omidyar—organized a letter to Twitter’s advertisers warning that Musk’s acquisition would “toxify our information ecosystem and be a direct threat to public safety, especially among those already most vulnerable and marginalized.”

They called upon the companies to “pull your advertising spending from Twitter” Musk could lift bans that were placed on Republican politicians, such as the former president Donald Trump.

A coalition of left-wing activist organizations sent a similar letter in November to the CEOs at Amazon, Apple, Coca-Cola and Disney. This letter was signed by both the Tech Oversight Project which received $400,000 from Omidyar and the Center for American Progress which received $200,000 Omidyar. Following the termination of the Tech Oversight Project grant, Omidyar Network removed it from its database. Free Beacon inquiries.

Omidyar was taken over by The Open Markets Institute in November. They sent a letter to the Institute in November. Asking The Department of Justice and federal agencies will investigate Musk’s purchase of Twitter.

In April, Data for Progress—a group that took $365,000 from Omidyar—called out Musk on Twitter for allegedly paying “$0 in federal income taxes in 2018.” The Omidyar Network also removed the grant. Free Beacon inquiries. Fight for the Future director Omidyar received $95,000 in November. He published a column. Time Magazine urging activists to abandon Twitter and move to other platforms.

Omidyar was also listed earlier this month as a sponsor for the Digital Content Next Summit. Jason Kint, who is one of Musk’s most vocal critics, runs the trade association which represents mainstream media outlets.

Kint takes place in December Warned He would have Musk “hauled in front of Congress” If the Twitter owner did not restore accounts of journalists who were suspended for publishing information about the billionaire’s plane, it would be a serious offense. According to the Omidyar Network, Free Beacon It paid $35,000 to sponsor this summit.

Update at 2:04 pm. This piece has been updated with comments from Omidyar Network spokespersons.