Hansjörg Wyss is a Swiss billionaire living in the United States who has made his fortune manufacturing and selling medical and healthcare products. As he does not hold U.S. citizenship, he cannot legally make donations for political purposes, but Wyss has nevertheless become a major donor to the Democratic Party. He has done so by giving huge amounts of money to U.S. non-profit organizations, which by law do not have to make public where their money comes from. According to research by the AP, and cited by several Washington-based media outlets, Wyss gave $72 million to the nonprofit organization Bergen Action Fund in 2021, which aims to "support organizations advocating for solutions to some of our world's biggest problems: the climate and biodiversity crisis, income inequality and health inequalities.”
Of that $72 million, nearly $63 million went directly to two groups that focus their activity on campaigning for Biden's agenda: The Sixteen Thirty Fund and the New Venture Fund. These organizations share a founder, leadership and managers, and they have received $245 million since 2021 from different Wyss companies. These two organizations were founded by Eric Kessler, a former aide to former President Bill Clinton and heir to a substantial family fortune in the automotive industry.
Politically oriented nonprofit
The New Venture Fund was created to engage in activities more closely related to a typical nonprofit, but Sixteen Thirty Fund, which has received $208 million since 2016 is explicitly politically oriented. Molly McUsic, president of the Berger Foundation, is also a director of the Sixteen Thirty Fund. The latter donates directly to political committees, but also donates to other nonprofit groups that, in turn, give money to political committees or invest in television advertising campaigns for Democratic candidates, tax returns and campaign finances.
Wyss has also donated $101 million since 2016 to another nonprofit, Fund for a Better Future. In 2021, a project by this foundation called Climate Power led a campaign to raise millions of dollars for Biden's program known as Build Back Better. This program had nothing to do with the climate and everything to do with politics.
