Citadel LLC

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<a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/billionaire-hedge-fund/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/billionaire-hedge-fund/</a><div>

</a><div><a href="https://www.propublica.org/series/the-secret-irs-files" class="rm-stats-tracked">

</a><h3><a href="https://www.propublica.org/series/the-secret-irs-files" class="rm-stats-tracked">Series:

                            The Secret IRS Files

</a></h3>

    Inside the Tax Records of the .001%

</div>

For billionaire Ken Griffin, it was well worth spending $54 million to

ensure he and other rich Illinoisans wouldn’t have to pay more tax.

By the time Illinois voters streamed into voting booths on Election

Day in 2020, Griffin, then Illinois’ wealthiest resident, had made sure

they’d heard plenty about why they should not vote to raise taxes on him

and the state’s other rich people. His tens of millions paid for an

unrelenting stream of ads and flyers against an initiative on that

year’s ballot, which would have allowed Illinois lawmakers to join 32

other states in setting higher tax rates for the wealthy than for

everyone else.

In the end, Griffin spent about $18 for every one of the 3.1 million

votes against the initiative. After initial optimism about its

prospects, the measure came up hundreds of thousands of votes short and

went down to defeat.

Rarely does the public get a clear view of the payoff for wealthy

Americans who put their money down to achieve a political outcome. But

in this case, ProPublica’s <a href="https://www.propublica.org/series/the-secret-irs-files" class="rm-stats-tracked">trove of IRS data</a>

can provide crucial context for the ballot fight. For Griffin and many

of his fellow ultrawealthy Illinoisans, spending even such a vast amount

was well worth it when compared with what a tax hike might have cost

them.

According to the data, Griffin averaged an annual income of $1.7

billion from 2013 to 2018. That was the fourth-highest in the country,

behind only the likes of Bill Gates.

Using that average income as a guideline, the new state tax increase,

which aimed to raise the rate from 5% to 8% on the highest incomes,

would have cost Griffin around $51 million every year in extra tax. In

especially good years — in 2018, Griffin reported income of almost $2.9

billion — he might have been forced to pay more than $80 million more.

A Citadel spokesperson responding on Griffin’s behalf pointed out that, according to ProPublica’s <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/americas-highest-incomes-and-taxes-revealed/" class="rm-stats-tracked">previously published data</a>, Griffin paid the second-highest amount of taxes of any American from 2013 to 2018. “Over the past decade,” he said in <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22077481-citadel-statement" class="rm-stats-tracked">a statement</a>,

“it is almost a certainty that Ken has been the largest individual

taxpayer in the State of Illinois — a state notorious for profligate

spending and rampant corruption.” Griffin has said he’s not against

raising taxes; he opposed the measure, he added in his statement,

because “Illinois needs to put its fiscal house in order before

burdening hard-working families with yet more taxes.”

The state’s current flat tax rate of 5% is far below the top rates in

other large states run by Democrats like California and New York and

comparable to those in some Republican-led states like Utah. Advocates

for raising the rates on the wealthy in Illinois say the state needs

additional revenue, pointing to its regular budget deficits and deep

pension debts.

Not all Griffin’s political bets pay off. A candidate for Illinois

governor he supported with tens of millions of dollars went down to

defeat in June’s Republican primary. Meanwhile, even though the income

tax initiative was defeated, Griffin announced last month that he was

moving Citadel’s headquarters to Miami and relocating there himself.

Though no other donor to the anti-tax fight came close to matching the

tens of millions that Griffin gave, others made contributions that were

more than what most Illinois households earn in a year. ProPublica

analyzed the tax data of nine other ultrawealthy supporters of Griffin’s

anti-tax campaign. According to our estimate, this group of heirs and

business owners, which includes some of the wealthiest people in

Illinois, can expect to see a healthy return on their contributions and

save millions in taxes over the coming years.

The math behind our estimate is simple: Wealthy Illinoisans will save

about 3% of their income, because that was the size of the proposed tax

increase on the wealthy. That’s essentially how Illinois’ state income

taxes work for Illinois residents. With some adjustments, a state tax

rate is applied to the income listed on their federal returns.

ProPublica contacted all 10 of the anti-tax donors mentioned in this

article and the accompanying chart. None challenged the methodology used

to estimate their tax savings.

Richard Uihlein, who along with Griffin has emerged as a <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/voter-ref-foundation" class="rm-stats-tracked">conservative megadonor</a> on <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/while-trump-cracked-down-on-immigration-a-republican-megadonor-sued-for-a-special-visa" class="rm-stats-tracked">the national stage</a>,

pitched in $100,000 to the anti-tax campaign — for him a modest amount

given his average annual income of $492 million in recent years. Through

his family foundation, Uihlein has also given millions of dollars to

the <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/illinois-policy-institute-john-tillman-transactions" class="rm-stats-tracked">Illinois Policy Institute</a>,

a small-government group that fought the graduated tax plan. Uihlein’s

average income would lead to about $15 million of annual tax savings

from the defeat of the ballot initiative.

Sam Zell, the real estate mogul known in Chicago for putting together a

leveraged buyout of the Tribune Company that preceded its bankruptcy,

gave $1.1 million. Based on his recent income, he would save $1.6

million in taxes each year. A spokesperson for Zell declined to comment.

Patrick Ryan made his billions in insurance, and Northwestern

University’s football stadium and basketball arena bear his family’s

name, thanks to the hundreds of millions he’s given the school. He gave

$1 million. His recent income suggests $2.1 million in annual tax

savings.

Richard Colburn, whose billionaire family owns the electrical parts

maker CED, gave $500,000 to the anti-tax campaign, which would help save

him $5.5 million each year in taxes, according to our estimates. In an

email message to ProPublica, Colburn said his reasons for opposing the

graduated tax were simple: It would have “eaten substantially” into his

investment earnings, some of which he passes on to a nonprofit

foundation he manages. Like Griffin, he contended the state would not

have used the money well.

“Though I enjoy living in the Chicago area, I could save immensely by

moving to a lower-tax state, and therefore I ‘invested’ to limit the

temptation on me to relocate,” Colburn wrote. “Another element of my

‘investment’ stems from my desire to limit the mis-spending by the State

of Illinois that occurs every time Springfield has extra money.” (His

full statement is <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22077440-richard-colburn-response" class="rm-stats-tracked">here</a>.)

Donald Wilson, founder of the trading firm DRW, gave $250,000 to the

anti-tax campaign. That donation in particular looks modest when weighed

against his potential tax savings: Based on Wilson’s average annual

income of $114 million, the proposed tax increase would have cost him

$3.5 million more every year.

Some of the contributions to the anti-tax campaign came from trusts,

special legal entities often used by the wealthy to hide or protect

assets, as well as to avoid the estate tax. Richard Stephenson, founder

of a chain of for-profit hospitals called Cancer Treatment Centers of

America, contributed $300,000 through his Celebrate Life Trust.

Stephenson is a longtime Republican donor and such an enthusiast of Ayn

Rand’s message of uncompromising self-interest that he was an executive

producer on two movies based on the novel “Atlas Shrugged.”

Uihlein, Ryan, Wilson and Stephenson also did not respond to requests for comment.

One $25,000 contribution came from the Philip M. Friedmann Family

Charitable Trust. Friedmann made his fortune by selling the greeting

card company he co-founded to a private equity firm.

Friedmann’s trust, unlike Stephenson’s, is a personal foundation. That

means Friedmann likely received a tax deduction for donating to his own

organization, which then used some of the funds to fight an increase in

his taxes.

The contribution to the anti-tax campaign by Friedmann’s foundation

appears to have violated federal tax law, three nonprofit tax law

experts told ProPublica. Personal foundations are prohibited from

spending to try to influence legislation, a category that includes

contributions to a ballot initiative committee, said Lloyd Hitoshi

Mayer, a law professor at Notre Dame. Organizations that break that law

are required to pay a penalty of up to 25% of the expenditure in

addition to attempting to retrieve the money.

Although this prohibition is <a href="https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/private-foundations/lobbying-activity-of-section-501c3-private-foundations" class="rm-stats-tracked">spelled out</a> on the IRS’ <a href="https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/private-foundations/taxes-on-taxable-expenditures-private-foundations" class="rm-stats-tracked">online guide</a>

for private foundations, “smaller family foundations don’t always know

the applicable rules,” said Ellen Aprill, a law professor at Loyola

Marymount University.

Friedmann did not respond to requests for comment.

Illinois didn’t have an income tax of any kind until 1969, when a deal

between GOP Gov. Richard Ogilvie and Democratic Chicago Mayor Richard

J. Daley resulted in a flat statewide tax of 2.5% on individuals and 4%

on corporations. Some Democrats said the tax disproportionately punished

low-income families, and pushed for higher rates on the wealthy. But

Republicans and other critics argued for expiration dates or rate

limits, warning that otherwise lawmakers would simply keep hiking and

expanding income taxes. The following year, a compromise was encoded in

the state’s updated constitution. It clarified that the General Assembly

had the power to impose an income tax but only “at a non-graduated

rate.”

As the state’s fiscal problems grew in the following decades,

governors and legislators repeatedly raised the flat tax rate until it

was up to 5% on individuals. In 2014, multimillionaire private equity

investor Bruce Rauner, a Republican backed by Griffin, was elected

governor after promising to slash taxes, and the rate was lowered to

3.75%. But as Rauner fell into a bitter standoff with the

Democratic-controlled General Assembly, the state went without a budget

for more than two years, leaving it in an even deeper financial hole.

The General Assembly, including some Republicans, voted in 2017 to raise the income tax again, to 4.95% on individuals.

Democrat JB Pritzker, a billionaire investor whose family founded the

Hyatt hotel chain, launched his campaign for governor by casting himself

as a wealthy man who would fight for the middle class — and for a

graduated tax that was less burdensome for low-income families than the

flat-rate system. Rauner vowed to stop him. Their 2018 campaigns spent

more than $250 million combined, including $22.5 million that Griffin

gave to Rauner, before Pritzker won that November.

With the support of a committed and rich governor, a graduated income tax suddenly seemed possible in Illinois.

“That created a bunch of new momentum,” said Ralph Martire, executive

director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, a think tank

that argued in favor of a graduated income tax. “That was enough

political support to really get the grassroots groups working on it.”

Outside of a special convention, both the Illinois House and Senate

must sign off on a state constitutional amendment by three-fifths

majorities. Voters then need to approve it, either by a clear majority

of all voters casting ballots in a general election or a three-fifths

majority of those voting on the measure itself.

In 2019 the Senate and then the House each met that threshold, passing

a measure that would eliminate the graduated income tax ban if voters

approved an amendment. Companion legislation laid out what the new tax

schedule would be: Rates would either drop or remain at 4.95% for people

reporting income up to $250,000; they would climb from there, to a rate

of 7.99% on individuals earning above $750,000 and couples above $1

million. The top rate was within the range of those in other Midwest

states with graduated systems — higher than Missouri’s but lower than

Iowa’s.

Supporters and opponents then had more than a year to make their cases.

Illinois election laws set some limits on campaign donations and

spending. But the rules are riddled with loopholes, and they impose no

limits on political committees formed to advocate for or against ballot

initiatives like the income tax proposal.

Opponents of the graduated income tax formed at least five different

campaign committees that raised nearly $63 million altogether. The best

funded, by far, was the Coalition to Stop the Proposed Tax Hike

Amendment, which collected almost $60 million, including the $54 million

from Griffin. The coalition received most of its remaining money from

other billionaires and millionaires, according to state campaign

donation records.

On the other side, Pritzker created the Vote Yes for Fairness

committee, plowing $58 million of his own fortune to support the “fair

tax” campaign. Apart from Pritzker’s donations, the committee received

just one $250 contribution, records show.

Griffin also launched other offensives. In October 2020, the Chicago Tribune <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-graduated-income-tax-ken-griffin-20201023-6qz46t3z5rbpdmgqaxwzd4xsya-story.html" class="rm-stats-tracked">reported</a> that Griffin had lambasted Pritzker as “a shameless master of personal tax avoidance” in an email to Citadel’s Chicago staff.

The bulk of Pritzker’s wealth ($3.6 billion, according to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/jb-pritzker/?sh=686d441c3814" class="rm-stats-tracked">Forbes</a>) is in trusts, some domestic and some <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/investigations/ct-met-jb-pritzker-offshore-finances-20181010-story.html" class="rm-stats-tracked">located offshore</a>. Pritzker has said some were set up by his grandfather. As ProPublica <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/the-great-inheritors-how-three-families-shielded-their-fortunes-from-taxes-for-generations" class="rm-stats-tracked">reported last year</a>,

it was common for 20th century patriarchs to set up trusts that passed

fortunes down through the generations free of estate taxes.

Pritzker has released <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22080184-pritzker-tax-returns-202022" class="rm-stats-tracked">his personal tax returns</a>,

but has not provided detailed information about the trusts. For 2020,

Pritzker’s office released returns showing $5.1 million in personal

income for the governor and his wife, MK. The domestic trusts benefiting

the governor also paid $16.3 million in Illinois taxes and $69.6

million in federal taxes in 2020, according to Pritzker spokesperson

Natalie Edelstein.

ProPublica’s IRS data does not shed light on those trusts. When

ProPublica requested further detail, Edelstein said the governor is not

releasing documents concerning the trusts because he “is not the only

beneficiary, so he does not have authority to release all of the

information.” She said that the governor had not personally accepted any

disbursements from the offshore trusts, instead giving them to charity.

She did not address whether the trusts had been set up to avoid estate

taxes, only saying they were “established generations ago.”

At the height of the graduated income tax campaign, advertisements for

and against the initiative seemed to be everywhere in Illinois — in

mailboxes, online, all over the airwaves.

“You couldn’t even watch TV — it was just one ad after another,”

recalled David Merriman, a public administration professor at the

University of Illinois Chicago.

Merriman’s research had found that Illinois received less revenue from

income taxes and placed a higher tax burden on low-income taxpayers

than neighboring states with graduated systems, including states led by

Republicans. But, perhaps predictably, the ads largely avoided policy

discussions in favor of political appeals.

“At the worst possible time, Springfield politicians are pushing a

constitutional amendment that would give them new powers to make it

easier to raise taxes on all Illinois taxpayers,” a narrator in one

anti-tax ad declared. “And if there’s one thing we know about

Springfield politicians, it’s that you can’t trust them.”

The fair-tax campaign accused the rich of trying to fool middle-class

families and claimed, based on the state Senate bill that had already

passed, that as many as 97% of taxpayers would pay the same or less

under the governor’s plan.

But voters weren’t convinced. Federal investigations of several

Chicago and state politicians were making headlines, and Merriman said

the graduated tax advocates failed to persuade voters that they would

benefit from the amendment. The initiative failed by a vote of 53% to

47%.

“It showed just how distrustful everyone is of the government,” he said.

The big money battle has continued in the Illinois governor’s race

this year. This January, Pritzker deposited $90 million into his own

reelection fund — the largest single political contribution in Illinois

in decades and probably ever. Under state election law, candidates can

lift donation limits in a race by funding their own campaigns.

Several of the anti-tax funders contributed large sums to Republicans

aiming to unseat Pritzker this fall. Once again, Griffin led the way,

spending $50 million, but his handpicked candidate lost the GOP primary

last week to Darren Bailey, a right-wing state senator propelled by more

than $17 million Uihlein gave to his campaign and an aligned super PAC.

Pritzker and the Democratic Governors Association also went

head-to-head with Griffin, paying for ads attacking his candidate,

Richard Irvin.

Bailey received an endorsement from Donald Trump the weekend before

the election and finished with about 58% of the vote. Irvin faded to

third place with 15%. In his election night victory speech, Bailey

ripped Pritzker as an “out-of-touch, elitist billionaire.”

“Do you feel overtaxed?” Bailey called out to his supporters. Their response: “Yeah!”

By then, Griffin had made a big announcement that meant his state tax bill would plummet.

In a letter to Citadel employees, Griffin announced that he was moving

the company’s headquarters to Miami and that he himself had already

moved his family to the area.

Florida does not have a personal income tax. Experts told ProPublica

Griffin will still pay some personal income tax in New York and Illinois

since Citadel has offices there. But his bill is sure to shrink

dramatically, likely saving him tens of millions a year.

In response to ProPublica’s questions, Citadel did not address whether

taxes motivated his move. Instead, in its statement the spokesperson

cited crime concerns as the prime motivator: “Ken left Illinois for a

simple reason: the state is devolving into anarchy. Senseless violence

is now part of daily life in Chicago.”

Griffin’s letter to Citadel staff also made no mention of taxes as

being a reason for the move. Instead, it rhapsodized about how Miami

“embodies the American Dream — embracing the possibilities of what can

be achieved by a community working to build a future together.”

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</div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/04/propublica-nobody-actually-knows-rich/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/04/propublica-nobody-actually-knows-rich/</a></div><div>
</div><div>s<a href="https://www.propublica.org/series/the-secret-irs-files" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><h3 style="display: inline !important;"><a href="https://www.propublica.org/series/the-secret-irs-files" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></a><a href="https://www.propublica.org/series/the-secret-irs-files" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">eries: The Secret IRS Files</a></h3></div>Inside the Tax Records of the .001%Periodically, we get a glimpse into the financial lives of the ultrarich. A pro athlete signs a huge contract, a tech CEO sells a boatload of shares in their company, or a billionaire heir unloads a Manhattan penthouse. Based on these nuggets of information, the media speculates as to how much income the rich might bring in every year. But nobody actually knows.Thanks to an analysis of its unprecedented trove of IRS data, ProPublica is <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/americas-highest-incomes-and-taxes-revealed" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">revealing the 15 people who reported the most U.S. income on their taxes from 2013 to 2018, along with data for the rest of the top 400</a>.The analysis also shows how much they paid in federal income taxes — and it demonstrates how the American tax system, which theoretically makes the highest earners pay the highest income tax rates, fails to do so for the people at the very top of the income pyramid. The top 400 earners pay noticeably lower tax rates than the merely rich; and, if you include payroll taxes, a married couple making $200,000 a year could end up paying higher tax rates than a person making $200 million a year. (<a href="https://projects.propublica.org/americas-highest-incomes-and-taxes-revealed" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">The full analysis is here; it includes selected names beyond the top 15</a>.)<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Names That Won’t Surprise You</h3>Scan the names on the list of the top 15 income earners and you’re certain to recognize several names — or at least the names of the companies they founded. Bill Gates hasn’t been involved in the day-to-day operations of Microsoft for over a decade, yet he still earned the most during the years we studied, reporting an average yearly income of $2.85 billion — and an effective federal income tax rate of 18.4%. Steve Ballmer, his former colleague, is also a well-known public figure, both for his time as Microsoft CEO and his current <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/the-billionaire-playbook-how-sports-owners-use-their-teams-to-avoid-millions-in-taxes" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers NBA team</a>. Ballmer’s average annual reported income of $1.05 billion landed him in the 10th spot on the list, and his effective federal income tax rate was 14.1%. The other side of the PC/Mac wars is represented here by Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs. Her average reported income of $1.57 billion ranked fifth-highest; she paid an effective tax rate of 14.8%. (ProPublica sought comment from everyone mentioned in this article. Nobody disputed the numbers cited here. Unless otherwise noted, representatives for people named in this article either declined to comment, declined to comment on the record or did not respond to requests for comment.)Another well-known billionaire sits just below Gates on the list: Media and tech mogul and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, with an average reported income of just over $2 billion, paid an effective income tax rate of 4.1%, by far the lowest rate among the top 15. (A spokesperson told ProPublica for an earlier article that Bloomberg “pays the maximum tax rate on all federal, state, local and international taxable income as prescribed by law,” and cited Bloomberg’s philanthropic giving.)The presence of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — either the first- or second-wealthiest person in America, depending on the day — won’t shock most people, but Bezos’s annual reported income during these years of $832 million put him only at number 15. He paid an effective tax rate of 23.2%; as we’ve <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">previously reported</a>, Bezos had so little income in a couple of recent years that he was able to pay $0 in federal income taxes in those periods.<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Who Are These Others and Why Are They Paying Higher Tax Rates?</h3>Tech billionaires dominate the top 15, but hedge fund managers account for a full third of the names on this list, and some of their incomes were just as huge. Most of them paid relatively high effective tax rates, especially compared to most of the tech sector representatives. Hedge fund managers often make their money through short-term trades, which are taxed at a much higher rate than when tech titans cash in on long-term investments.The highest-earning hedge funder is Ken Griffin, founder of the Chicago-based firm Citadel. From 2013 to 2018, he reported an average income of nearly $1.7 billion, putting him fourth on the list. Griffin paid a tax rate of 29.2% during these years. (A spokesperson for Griffin said the tax rates in the IRS data “significantly understate” what Griffin pays, because they were lowered by charitable contributions and do not reflect local and state taxes. He also said Griffin pays foreign taxes, which aren’t included in IRS calculations of effective tax rate.)Israel Englander, co-founder of Millennium Management, paid at a 30.8% rate, while the co-founders of Two Sigma Investments, David Siegel and John Overdeck, paid tax rates of 31.6% and 34.2%, respectively.Some of this variation in rates reflects how people structure their businesses under tax law. Income earned by publicly traded corporations is taxed at the company level. When it’s passed on to big shareholders, such as tech billionaires, it can come in the form of dividends, which are taxed at lower rates than ordinary income. By contrast, the income from some manufacturing companies and hedge funds flows directly to company owners, who pay taxes on it, resulting in higher effective tax rates on average.<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Where Are the Heirs?</h3>Lists of the world’s wealthiest individuals are always heavily populated by heirs, ranging from descendents of old money to scions of more recently minted fortunes. Dozens of heirs made ProPublica’s list of 400 biggest income earners. Descendents and relatives of Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, claim 11 spots.The DeVos family, heirs to the Amway fortune, also have multiple members in the top 400. Perhaps the best known is Betsy DeVos, who served as U.S. secretary of education during the Donald Trump administration. With a reported annual income of $112 million, she was the 389th-highest earner in this period.Much like the tech titans who top the list, most of these heirs get their income from dividends or long-term investments, which are taxed at a lower rate. Their effective tax rates ranged from as low as 10.6% for Betsy DeVos to a high of 23% paid by Walmart heir Tom Walton.<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Don’t Forget the Deductions</h3>Another key way that some top earners reduced their tax liability was to claim significant deductions, often in the form of large charitable contributions. This is particularly true for wealthy investors who are able to make their donations with shares of stock. Thanks to a generous provision of the tax code, they can then deduct the full value of the stock at its current price — without having to first sell it and pay capital gains tax.Michael Bloomberg achieved a tax rate of 4.1% from 2013 to 2018 by taking annual deductions of more than $1 billion, mostly through charitable contributions. From 2013 to 2017, he also wrote off an average of $400 million each year from what he’d paid in state and local taxes. The 2018 tax overhaul limited that deduction to $10,000 — but also introduced a <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/secret-irs-files-reveal-how-much-the-ultrawealthy-gained-by-shaping-trumps-big-beautiful-tax-cut" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">huge new deduction for pass-through companies</a> that Bloomberg benefited from.<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Wait — What About the Celebrities?</h3>The earnings of actors, musicians and sports stars are a subject of nonstop scrutiny in the media, yet few celebrities cracked the list of the top 400 earners, which would have required them to report annual incomes of at least $110 million.ProPublica’s trove has data on many celebrities. One who came close to the top 400 is basketball superstar LeBron James, who averaged $96 million a year in reported income. Grammy-winning singer Taylor Swift also came within reach of the top 400, averaging $82 million in reported income during these years. Actor George Clooney would have had to double his average income of $55 million to crack the top 400.<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">THE TOP 15</h3>Here are the details on the top 15 income earners. <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/americas-highest-incomes-and-taxes-revealed" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Read the full analysis of the top 400 here</a>.For the full list of America’s top 400 income earners and their tax rates, along with our methodology, <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/americas-highest-incomes-and-taxes-revealed" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">click here</a>.<a href="https://www.propublica.org/series/the-secret-irs-files" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><div><a href="https://www.propublica.org/series/the-secret-irs-files" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</a></div></div><div><a href="https://www.propublica.org/series/the-secret-irs-files" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></a><a href="https://www.propublica.org/series/the-secret-irs-files" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></a><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/12/loeffler-2649526867">https://www.alternet.org/2020/12/loeffler-2649526867</a>roger salon
on Oct. 9, billionaire Ken Griffin, the head of a<a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/11/21/kelly-loeffler-marketed-derivatives-during-great-recession-at-worlds-most-notorious-tax-haven/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"> multinational financial services company</a>, gave $2 million to a super PAC called Georgia United Victory (GUV), which had originally been launched by allies of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp but at the time exclusively supported Sen. Kelly Loeffler's election campaign.Griffin ranks among the richest people in America, and during the 2020 election cycle he spent at least $57 million to support conservative candidates, most of that on Republicans in tight U.S. Senate campaigns. He donated significant sums to support Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona and Michigan GOP candidate John James, among others. But his $2 million to GUV on Oct. 9 was one of his 10 largest contributions ever, and he had already given the Loeffler-centric PAC $1 million about five weeks earlier.Most major Republican donors at that time were avoiding Loeffler's race, a nonpartisan "jungle primary" in which she faced not just Democrats like the Rev. Raphael Warnock — her current opponent in the Jan. 5 Georgia runoff election — but also Rep. Doug Collins, a conservative Republican closely allied with President Trump.Furthermore, there was no indication that Loeffler needed the money. She is the richest member of Congress, with an estimated net worth of $800 million. After Kemp appointed her to the Senate last January to fill the seat left vacant by the retirement of Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson, she had promised to spend as much as $20 million funding her own campaign. She consistently told voters that her independent wealth conferred an advantage: She would not be bought by corporate interests.Griffin's donation to GUV on Oct. 9 also came one day after the Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/citadel-securities-to-buy-nyse-market-making-unit-of-smaller-rival-imc-11602191976" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">reported</a> that one of his companies, Citadel Securities — a separate entity from the Citadel hedge fund, which Griffin also runs — had reached an initial agreement to buy one of its competitors, a company called IMC, for a price "in the tens of millions of dollars."Citadel Securities is one of the world's leading "<a href="https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/investing-basics/how-stock-markets-work/executing-order" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">market makers</a>" — meaning a company that quotes both a buy and a sell price for a trade, hoping to make a profit on the spread — and the proposed acquisition would make Citadel Securities the largest designated market maker, or DMM, on the New York Stock Exchange, with domain over trades for more than half of all securities listed on the exchange.But before that could happen, management at the world's most famous stock exchange — a central institution in American capitalism since its founding in 1792 — had to approve the deal. That followed in due course, and according to a Citadel Securities <a href="https://www.citadelsecurities.com/news/citadel-securities-expands-leading-dmm-business/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">press release</a>, the acquisition of IMC was finalized on Nov. 18.As it happens, Kelly Loeffler's husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, is chairman of the New York Stock Exchange — as well as founder and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the company that has owned the exchange since acquiring it in a $10.9 billion deal in 2013. Loeffler herself sits on a Senate committee that oversees Wall Street and the financial markets.To be clear, there is no evidence of any illegality surrounding Griffin's contributions to the Loeffler super PAC. As for the Citadel Securities/IMC deal, a spokesperson for ICE, Sprecher's company, told Salon by email that NYSE approval "was a straightforward, staff-driven process that had zero involvement from Jeff."After considerable discussion off the record, Zia Ahmed, a spokesperson for Griffin, issued a statement placing Griffin's donations to Loeffler in the larger context of his political giving in 2020:<blockquote style="margin: 1em 40px 1em -5px; border-left: 4px solid rgb(11, 13, 101); line-height: 32px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; width: 602.543px; background: rgb(245, 245, 245);">Ken supported several diverse and talented Republican candidates in highly-contested races for Senate this year, including Sens. Collins, [Joni] Ernst and McSally, as well as John James. Sen. Loeffler is a successful businesswoman and an exceptionally strong member of the Senate, and Ken supported both Sen. Loeffler and Sen. [David] Perdue in the general and runoff elections.
</blockquote>Still, the circumstances and timing of the Loeffler donations remain distinctive, and serve to illustrate the haze of money, power and influence that surround the newly-minted Georgia senator, who walked away from an immensely lucrative career as a top executive within her husband's firm when she entered politics a little less than a year ago. Given Loeffler's connections, as well as the government oversight she now exercises over those connections, almost every contact she has with her husband's industry reverberates with potential conflicts of interest.At the time of Griffin's donations, this had been made clear in months of reporting about Loeffler's wealth and corporate ties, as well as the widespread scrutiny she drew, along with several other senators, for a number of well-timed stock trades ahead of the coronavirus pandemic.A Justice Department investigation later cleared Loeffler of criminal wrongdoing, but she and her husband liquidated all individual stocks — except for their shares of Sprecher's firm, Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of NYSE.On Nov. 18, the same day that Citadel Securities formally announced its purchase of IMC, with the runoff campaign between Loeffler and Warnock underway, Griffin gave $5,600 to the Senate Georgia Battleground Fund, a PAC established to support both Loeffler and Perdue (who also faces a Jan. 5 runoff). That curious amount may reflect a misunderstanding: A PAC can accept much larger sums, but in this instance Griffin gave the maximum any individual could have donated directly to the two runoff candidates.The NYSE says that DMM firms like Citadel Securities are "the cornerstone of the NYSE market model." DMMs analyze market data to match buyers with sellers, executing trades both manually and electronically in real time, sometimes in flashes of a second. Their matchmaking also helps limit volatility, such as during this year, which has proved a boom time for Citadel. In return, DMMs collect small fees on massive numbers of transactions, scrape potentially useful data and, to some degree, shape markets.Citadel Securities, however, also excels in high-frequency trading, where nanoseconds can make a difference. The combination presents the firm with a virtually inimitable advantage that has vaulted it to the top of its industry.Ben Edwards, a securities law expert and professor at University of Las Vegas Nevada School of Law, told Salon that Citadel's purchase of IMC would give it a greater presence into the market, especially with the recent rise of app-based trading, an emergent focus for Citadel."As Citadel grows in size, its view of the market also expands — likely allowing Citadel to become even more efficient in market making and high-speed trading," Edwards said. "As retail trading expands with apps like Robinhood, market makers should profit significantly by executing uninformed trades."Citadel Securities' buyout of IMC was a consequential transaction, according to the Wall Street Journal. It reduced the number of DMM firms on the world's most famous stock exchange from four to three, and gave Citadel oversight of daily transactions for more than 60% of NYSE listings, "potentially raising concerns that the DMM business is becoming overly concentrated," the Journal reported.That consolidation was unlikely to impact the real-time experience of regular investors, Edwards told Salon, but the NYSE might see it as beneficial synchronicity."The NYSE may actually welcome Citadel's acquisition of a market maker because it aligns their interests to a greater degree," he said. "Although Citadel and NYSE may not always agree, Citadel's purchase of a NYSE market maker likely means that Citadel isn't going to undermine the NYSE or try to shift order flow away from the NYSE. If they did, it would result in less business for their market-making subsidiary."Last year Citadel joined a number of other major firms — such as Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan, Fidelity Investments and Bank of America — in opening its own exchange, MEMX, that would compete with the NYSE directly."We will not fight it," Sprecher <a href="https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2019/02/08/intercontinental-exchange-ice-q4-2018-earnings-con.aspx" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">said</a> on a call with investors after the MEMX announcement, a notably different approach than his purported detachment from Citadel Securities' bid for IMC. "We think it has spillover benefits for the New York Stock Exchange."Sprecher and Griffin were the top two donors to Georgia United Victory, the pro-Loeffler PAC. The third-biggest donor gave $500,000. Again, Griffin was one of the biggest individual donors of the 2020 election cycle, ranking sixth out of all Americans, according to data compiled by <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/summ.php?disp=D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">OpenSecrets</a>. Sprecher, too, has spent tens of millions of dollars, much of it on his wife's campaign.But it's also true that before the Nov. 3 general election, GUV apparently received contributions from only a few donors. In the four months between the PAC's July launch and Election Day, Griffin and Sprecher were among only 26 contributors. Griffin's $3 million was exceeded only by Sprecher's $10.5 million, with all other GUV donors chipping in a combined total of about $3 million.Otherwise, as mentioned above, major Republican donors mostly stayed away from Loeffler during the "jungle primary." That wasn't true of Griffin: Two of his <a href="https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?data_type=processed&contributor_name=ken+griffin&contributor_employer=citadel&two_year_transaction_period=2020&min_date=01%2F01%2F2019&max_date=12%2F31%2F2020&contributor_state=IL&contributor_state=NY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">10 largest donations</a> went to Loeffler, with the rest going to national Republican-oriented committees and to a PAC supporting John James, the Republican candidate taking on Democratic Sen. Gary Peters in Michigan.In the period before the Nov. 3 election, GUV entirely deployed its resources in going after Rep. Doug Collins, Loeffler's principal Republican opponent, and did not spend a dime attacking Warnock or any other Democrat. From Election Day onward, GUV raised only about $2 million — and that came from 850 individual contributions, which together account for less than Griffin's two contributions before the election.Collins attacked Loeffler's wealth and her stock trading scandal throughout the fall campaign. "Raising money — especially from small donors — is a great barometer of support and it is clear that Doug has a dedicated grassroots army marching with him," Collins campaign spokesperson Dan McLagan told ABC News in July. "Kelly Loeffler is mainly supported by Kelly Loeffler, her super wealthy stock-exchange-owning husband and a bunch of lobbyists. She leads a very small and lonely parade."Collins, however, had also vigorously supported President Trump's 2017 tax bill, which disproportionately benefited corporate and financial interests and multinational firms. Between 2014 and 2016, Collins voted against multiple efforts to close offshore tax loopholes like the ones Loeffler and Sprecher have so successfully marketed through Intercontinental Exchange.In other words, there are no obvious political or ideological reasons why Ken Griffin would value Kelly Loeffler so much higher than Doug Collins, or why he was evidently so much more invested in her success than were other GOP mega-donors. As noted above, however, Loeffler sits on the Senate committee that conducts oversight of stock trading."It's safe to assume that the donations are being made because Citadel stands to benefit by keeping her in office," Edwards told Salon. "It may be as simple as desiring to keep Republican control over the Senate. If Sen. Sherrod Brown [a liberal Ohio Democrat] gained control of the Senate Banking Committee, it could create political risk and increased oversight for the industry. Griffin may also believe that she's more likely to understand and support their industry than most because of her prior work and husband."Loeffler estimated wealth of $800 million makes her by far the richest member of the Senate, but that's only 4% of Griffin's Bloomberg-estimated net worth of $20 billion, which makes him one of the 50 richest people in the U.S.For millions of Americans, 2020 has been a financial nightmare, but for Griffin — who last year bought <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/billionaire-ken-griffin-buys-americas-most-expensive-home-for-238-million-11548271301#:_{:text=Griffin%20bought%20several%20floors%20of,record%20for%20a%20Miami%20condo}" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">the most expensive home in the country</a>, a Manhattan penthouse — it has been a bonanza. The acceleration in stock transactions has made Citadel Securities one of the financial world's <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-06/work-from-resort-is-how-ken-griffin-stayed-on-top-of-markets" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">biggest winners</a> of 2020: The firm doubled its profits in the first half of the year as compared to 2019, increasing Griffin's personal net worth by about a third, or $5 billion, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-02/ken-griffin-s-macro-dream-propels-his-net-worth-to-20-billion" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Bloomberg</a>."Sen. Loeffler's close familial ties to market makers and the NYSE may make it less likely that she'd consider policy reforms which might benefit the public and hurt Griffin's business," Edwards said. "For example, a transaction-based tax would likely significantly shrink overall trading volume. That isn't something I'd expect her, Griffin or the NYSE to support."While Griffin's $3 million might seem like pocket change for someone with his immense wealth, it is not paltry to most Americans, or to most political campaigns. Loeffler's campaign, for instance, raised $28 million in total, and only $3.8 million of that amount came from individual contributions. Another $23 million came from the candidate herself.The Loeffler campaign did not reply to Salon's request for comment. Citadel Securities eventually provided a comment from Griffin's spokesperson, printed above in full.<div class="around-the-web" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="from-your-siteheadline" style="font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase;">FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; width: 589.446px; list-style: none;"><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/records-suggest-sen-kelly-loeffler-took-advantage-of-a-trump-tax-loophole-to-write-off-campaign-jet/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-weight: lighter; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Records suggest Sen. Kelly Loeffler took advantage of a Trump tax ... ›</a></li><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/12/kelly-loeffler-2649489275/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-weight: lighter; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Kelly Loeffler's campaign condemns photo with longtime KKK ... ›</a></li><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/12/loeffler/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-weight: lighter; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Kelly Loeffler asked Donald Trump's supporters for money on Parler ... ›</a></li></ul><div class="around-the-webheadline" style="font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: 10px;">RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; width: 589.446px; list-style: none;"><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://apnews.com/article/race-and-ethnicity-georgia-media-social-media-elections-99c40bece8a6fc6904647727493f1257" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-weight: lighter; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Loeffler campaign: She had 'no idea' she posed with neo-Nazi ›</a></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-conspiracy-theories-senate-elections-georgia-6110d626cee11b289c9c6755973fc930" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-weight: lighter; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Candidate who embraces QAnon endorses Loeffler for Senate ›</a></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/watch/daily-beast-value-of-kelly-loeffler-s-mansion-mysteriously-dropped-6-million-overnight-97882693541" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-weight: lighter; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Daily Beast: Value of Kelly Loeffler's mansion mysteriously dropped ... ›</a></li></ul></div>=</div><div>=</div><div>http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/donor_detail.php?cycle=2016&id=U0000003655&type=I&super=N&name=Griffin%2C+Kenneth+C.+%26+Anne+Dias</div><div>
</div><div><table class="tablesorter tablesorter-default" id="top" role="grid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; width: 629px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 18px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); margin: 10px 0px 15px; background-color: rgb(201, 201, 201);"><tbody aria-live="polite" aria-relevant="all"><tr role="row" class="odd"><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">GRIFFIN, KENNETH C
CHICAGO, IL</td><td class="number" style="text-align: right; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">$100,000</td><td class="center" style="text-align: center; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">03/29/16</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00571703&cycle=2016" style="color: rgb(62, 114, 181); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Senate Leadership Fund</a></td></tr><tr role="row" class="even"><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">GRIFFIN, KENNETH C
CHICAGO, IL</td><td class="number" style="text-align: right; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">$2,500,000</td><td class="center" style="text-align: center; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">02/05/16</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00541292&cycle=2016" style="color: rgb(62, 114, 181); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Conservative Solutions PAC</a></td></tr><tr role="row" class="odd"><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">GRIFFIN, KENNETH C
CHICAGO, IL</td><td class="number" style="text-align: right; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">$500,000</td><td class="center" style="text-align: center; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">12/30/15</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00489856&cycle=2016" style="color: rgb(62, 114, 181); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Ending Spending Action Fund</a></td></tr><tr role="row" class="even"><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">GRIFFIN, KENNETH C
CHICAGO, IL</td><td class="number" style="text-align: right; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">$250,000</td><td class="center" style="text-align: center; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">12/30/15</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00573014&cycle=2016" style="color: rgb(62, 114, 181); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Fighting For Ohio Fund</a></td></tr><tr role="row" class="odd"><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">GRIFFIN, KENNETH C
CHICAGO, IL</td><td class="number" style="text-align: right; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">$2,500,000</td><td class="center" style="text-align: center; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">12/14/15</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00541292&cycle=2016" style="color: rgb(62, 114, 181); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Conservative Solutions PAC</a></td></tr><tr role="row" class="even"><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">GRIFFIN, KENNETH C MR
CHICAGO, IL</td><td class="number" style="text-align: right; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">$2,000,000</td><td class="center" style="text-align: center; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">11/24/15</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00564765&cycle=2016" style="color: rgb(62, 114, 181); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Freedom Partners Action Fund</a></td></tr><tr role="row" class="odd"><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">GRIFFIN, KENNETH C
CHICAGO, IL</td><td class="number" style="text-align: right; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">$100,000</td><td class="center" style="text-align: center; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">06/24/15</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00541292&cycle=2016" style="color: rgb(62, 114, 181); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Conservative Solutions PAC</a></td></tr><tr role="row" class="even"><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">GRIFFIN, KENNETH
CHICAGO, IL</td><td class="number" style="text-align: right; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">$200,000</td><td class="center" style="text-align: center; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">06/24/15</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00572743&cycle=2016" style="color: rgb(62, 114, 181); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Independent Voice For Illinois</a></td></tr><tr role="row" class="odd"><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">GRIFFIN, KENNETH O MR
CHICAGO, IL</td><td class="number" style="text-align: right; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">$100,000</td><td class="center" style="text-align: center; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">06/09/15</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00571372&cycle=2016" style="color: rgb(62, 114, 181); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Right To Rise USA</a></td></tr><tr role="row" class="even"><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">GRIFFIN, KENNETH C
CHICAGO, IL</td><td class="number" style="text-align: right; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">$250,000</td><td class="center" style="text-align: center; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">04/15/15</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00574533&cycle=2016" style="color: rgb(62, 114, 181); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Future45</a></td></tr><tr role="row" class="odd"><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">GRIFFIN, ANNE DIAS MRS
CHICAGO, IL</td><td class="number" style="text-align: right; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">$5,000</td><td class="center" style="text-align: center; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">02/09/15</td><td style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 6px 3px; vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00571778&cycle=2016" style="color: rgb(62, 114, 181); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Leadership Matters for America</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div>==</div></div>